Forever, With You
by VirtualDraconium
Summary: Major Spoilers for whole series. They thought Zero Requiem would be the end of their problems. However, due to unexpected events a considerable amount of time later, the two are brought together once more. Very post-turn 25. SuzakuxLelouch.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Normally I'd write a big long author's note here. I think I'll just say that I've wanted to write a SuzaLulu story for ages, and have been waiting for an idea. Guess what: I had an idea. I was going to put a proper summary here, but I think I'll not tell you what I've got planned for this. I've been assured it's a good idea though...

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Code Geass.

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He was in the history books, Lelouch had noted wryly some twenty odd years after he'd supposedly died. This was shortly after he and CC had moved to England after having spent the intermediate time period living in rural Australia, the one place on earth where he was unlikely to be recognised. The country had remained isolated from Britannia's wars after all.

The two had escaped and remained together, and Lelouch had appreciated her as the one constant in his life as everything else had changed. She was older now. After all, by giving her code to Lelouch, she had returned to walking the path of mortality that she'd deviated from long ago.

Lelouch was not older. He was the immortal one now. He'd stopped aging on that day. He was no longer a mortal, a transformation which, fittingly, had been conducted on the morning of his 'death'. He hadn't wanted her code, had tried his utmost to avoid her, to avoid _it._ He'd wanted to die. His death had been a necessary part of his plans, one that he'd come to terms with and accepted easily. All the world's evil, all the world's hatred had been resting on his shoulders, and by dying, the world would cleansed. This was his payment for causing the death of so many. Shirley, Rolo, Euphie… these were the most painful to him out of a long line of deaths he'd caused either directly or indirectly. He didn't want to live with the knowledge and the guilt of being a killer.

And yet CC had guilted him into taking her code. Selfish woman, he'd said it before… But he had promised; he'd unknowingly accepted this when he'd accepted the contract with her for his geass, for the power to change to world…

That was one good thing about this change, he'd mused, that damn geass was gone. Sure, it may have helped him free the world, but it had brought him and those he cared for too much anguish along the way. Besides, he'd hated wearing those annoying contact lenses. The damn things had made his eyes itch.

What did annoy him was that location his code mark, that bird-like sigil which marked his as immortal, had decided to appear. That symbol, the one that had sat in his eyes, carrying his power, the one that had been emblazoned on CC's forehead, hidden beneath her hair. His code mark was easier to hide, but that didn't make him any happier. The fact that it was on the palm of his hand, the same location it had appeared in on his father after he'd received VV's code, only served to frustrate him. He'd taken to perpetually wearing a black leather glove on that hand so he didn't have to look at it.

Along with the code mark had come a new set of powers, and another reason, in addition to the obvious need for disguise, to keep as much of his skin covered as possible.

There was, of course, the power to grant geass. He wasn't quite sure how that worked yet, but had no interest in finding out. He didn't want to grant any one a geass. From his own experience, and from what he knew of others, being in possession of a geass tended to bring misfortune, either on yourself or those around you. He didn't want that. He'd done enough of that already. He wouldn't try using that power until absolutely necessary.

The other ability he'd already used by accident, very shortly after CC gave him this unwelcome present. He wasn't quite sure what to call it but it was clearly related to memory.

CC had used this power on Suzaku at Narita, whilst he'd been sat in the cockpit of the Lancelot with his weapons pointed at Lelouch, who at the time had been wearing his Zero garb. Neither Lelouch nor CC knew what Suzaku had seen, although she had told him it involved images from his past. He did however remember what he himself had seen when he's casually, and unwittingly, touched her as she did so. He'd been exposed to her own memories, many of which had been extremely painful. He'd come out the other end with knowledge of her original name.

He'd used it, accidentally, on his sister, as he lay bleeding peacefully to an apparent death. He hadn't known what he was doing at the time, but the pain of being stabbed cleanly through the heart, though not fatal for him, had been excruciatingly painful, and had caused him to broadcast it, whatever _it_ was, when his sister had grabbed him. He watched as she was assaulted by his memories, by fragments of scenes that had lead up to this moment, his triumph, and she'd been left with an understanding of what he'd been doing, as his body fell out of consciousness, no longer appearing alive to any onlooker. He was happy that she at least knew the truth. Let the rest of the world remember him as Lelouch the demon king in disgust, so long as the one person he cared for the most knew why it had to be this way.

Make that the two people he cared for most. Suzaku knew. Suzaku had helped. Suzaku, who had, as a result, forgiven him for the deaths of Shirley and Euphie. Suzaku, who had sacrificed whatever else it was he had wanted to do with the rest of his life, to play dead, to take up the mantle of Zero, kill his best and oldest friend and spend the rest of his life protecting Nunally, who was presently the most important and powerful person in the world. Suzaku, who still believed him dead.

With Suzaku to protect her and Schniezel and Cornelia at her side to her advise her, Lelouch felt confident in leaving the future of the world in Nunally's hands.

Or at least he had. He was now starting to worry about what would happen in the near future, when, inevitably, these people he'd entrusted the future to, would die. He was reminded of this inexorable passage of time every time he looked at CC.

She's been married briefly, whilst they'd been living in Australia. She'd been happy. The peace, and the returning feeling of mortality had helped her relax, and mesh into society as a normal human once more. She'd kept too may secrets from her husband though. There were too many things that she just couldn't tell him, especially when it came to her origins, and Lelouch. He'd left her after a couple of years, leaving her to raise her young son with Lelouch's help. She'd named him Mao, hoping to give him a happy life in repentance for destroying that of the original. Lelouch found it dreadfully ironic that the boy was born and spent his childhood in Australia. After all, he remembered that this was where the original had wanted to bring CC, to live with her in a quiet house, isolated from the rest of the world.

Their house had been isolated. Lelouch may have been less likely to be recognised there, but surely someone would have noticed that he wasn't aging. Mostly he stayed inside observing the world through his computer. Whenever he became restless he would storm out of the house and wander impatiently through the open country that surrounded the house.

When Mao was ten they left Australia for England. It was at this time that Lelouch discovered himself in the history books. Uncle Lulu was of course Mao's favourite source for homework help, and homework included 'history'. Lelouch wasn't sure if it counted as history if it was still in living memory. He wondered if CC felt like this a lot, she'd lived for hundreds of years, a lot of what people considered history was just events of her past. Like witch burning, she'd experienced that first hand he knew, but nowadays it was just stories. People knew it had happened, but the way it was talked about, it was like fiction. He wondered if he'd be remembered like that in a few hundred years time. The legend of Lelouch, the Demon Prince, who used his powers of mind control to conquer the world, until he was defeated by the Zero the knight of justice. The thought made him smile, he'd have to wait and see, the distant future was just a matter of time to him now, after all. He wondered what Suzaku would think about being remembered that way, as a legendary hero.

Mao didn't know that his 'uncle' Lulu was the very same as the 99th Emperor of Britannia that decorated the pages of his text book. He accepted that Lelouch wasn't aging like his mother, simply because it had always been that way, and his mother told him not to talk about. Lelouch nevertheless found it disturbing as the boy grew closer and closer to his own apparent age, and inevitably started asking questions. They avoided telling him the truth. CC wasn't happy about it, but she would rather tell a lie to her son, than endanger Lelouch and herself should the truth come out.

The truth couldn't come out. Ever. Not now or a thousand years from now. If people believed that Lelouch had done it all on purpose, that the whole evil tyrant debacle was an act, not true, and even more so if they found out he was not dead, then the whole affair became cheapened. People would begin to doubt the system that was in place now, and every thing would fall apart again.

Therefore when Mao turned fifteen, Lelouch moved away. He kept in contact with CC, and still saw her occasionally when her son was not present. He missed her company. However moving away also took away some of the feeling of being left out. CC's apparent age at this time, was well into her forties. Even though she was still the only person he knew who understood what it felt like to watch friends and loved ones grow older whilst you were left behind, he didn't want to watch so closely. It was a painful, lonely feeling, and by moving away not only was he protecting the three of them, he was isolating himself from others.

CC had told him that he would inevitably use his power to grant geass, to tie a mortal to himself, for company however transient, even if he did not intend to pass on his code. Lelouch was determined not to do so. After she assured him that he would, he was even more determined not to, if just to spite her. He'd get through eternity on his own.

Fifty years had now past since Zero Requiem. CC was old. Her son was starting a family of his own, though Lelouch remained isolated and unchanged. His sister too, and his half-siblings were older. He could only assume Suzaku was older, that he had chosen a successor to the title of Zero some time ago, since the masked hero remained seemingly unchanged, unwavering in his duties, though Suzaku, now nearly seventy would be too old to still be wearing the helmet. Lelouch hoped he was happy and healthy, and had settled down for a quiet retirement, although he still suspected he wouldn't be able to stay apart from his need to protect Nunally. That guy was way too stubborn.

Lelouch was bored with immortality already. He'd spent fifty years without a cause to fight for. And yet… he sensed there was trouble lurking ahead, and that the world would need his help, anonymously of course. And so he watched, waiting for his time to spring into action, his chance to use his talents, and perhaps his witch-gifted abilities, to save the world from whatever it would be.

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**A/N:** So there you are. I was going to show what was going on with Suzaku in this chapter, but Lulu rambled on too long. So I'll leave you to speculate on how the SuzaLulu-ness will come about, with Suzaku being 70... I don't know when I'll write the next chapter, since I really need to catch up on the work I've been avoiding since last week. What I will say is that nice reviews will make it happen sooner. And any suggestions plotwise are welcome since I only have a vague idea where this is going.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Okay, I am overwhelmed by the response to the first chapter. So here is the list of people I want to thank for encouraging me to hurry up and get my work done so I could write more! SecondToNon, .Alex Cullen's Productions, yukisaru, Great Aunt Florence, asami-chan37, SuzaLuluLOVER, GoGothGirl, Master Elora Dannan, enchanted nightingale, Silver-White Tiger and Raven the Joker. (I think I thanked most of you already for the reviews.) also my favourite and alert-ees: darkryubaby, UNTensaZangetsu, Candelabra, Eevetta, Ireleda, Jayuna, lady of Mystery and Chaos, Lanslyna, Naome 666, Val-Creative, YaanKarasu, Startfruit-22, tripfag, 00Styx00, 13thhourbells, Vuli, Kuso-baba, Ura Hawkings, sylee, Murderous Phantasm, xxyumiulrichxx and Dagzar. And finally Dragonrider4000 all the encouragement…

Wow, there's a lot of you…

Anyway since I know you've been waiting, time to catch up with the other half of the dynamic duo…

Disclaimer: I still don't own Code Geass…

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Suzaku was annoyed. No, that was an understatement, he had been absolutely _livid_ when he'd figured it out. It had been like some form of betrayal, although he wasn't sure if he could convince anybody else of that. In fact, if he hadn't done so already, he would have seriously considered killing Lelouch for putting him through this. He hated himself for thinking that, after all it was his job to be the one who remembered Lelouch with respect, not with malice; he owed it to his friend who had managed to bring about the peace they'd both been fighting for.

All the same, he couldn't help but be just a little bit irked. At first he'd simply been upset because Lelouch had left him and his sister; they both missed him terribly. What had been worse was that they couldn't grieve for him openly, since they were supposed to act _relieved_ that the supposed tyrant was dead. He knew Nunally was distressed, he'd passed by her quarters and heard her crying by herself enough times that first week, and he wasn't allowed to reassure her. He wasn't allowed to reveal his identity under any circumstance, he'd promised Lelouch. 'Kururugi Suzaku' was dead to the world and so it should remain. And what could Zero have done to reassure her? Not a lot; he'd been the one that killed him after all. But he didn't have the right to be distressed over this, or annoyed with Lelouch's memory about it. He'd already taken out all his feelings on Lelouch when he'd revealed the plan. And in the end he'd gone along with it anyway, since it _was_ a good plan and _would_ work, and Lelouch did believe his death was a necessary atonement. Suzaku wanted atonement as well. What would one more death be on top of the pile of those he'd killed, even if it was his friend, if it meant that finally peace was achieved?

Of course Lelouch was a lot more than just a friend to Suzaku. As children they'd been inseparable. Well… until Britannia came along with its war and separated them. But it had been Britannia that had brought them back together again years later, before Lelouch had became Zero and Suzaku the pilot of the Lancelot, setting themselves up as enemies, if only just. In fact it almost seemed like their meeting had triggered those major changes in each of their lives. Lelouch as Zero had saved his life shortly after that. He remembered Zero calling him an idiot for refusing to join their cause, and he wondered if he should have known then the identity of the man in the mask.

Later, he'd met Euphemia, that sweet and gentle princess, and she'd sent him back to school. To Lelouch's school in fact; another remarkable coincidence. At first he'd tried to keep his distance from the former prince, as Lulu seemed quite popular and Suzaku assumed that associating with an eleven would not help. Not to mention that he was one of few people who actually knew of Lelouch's former identity which had to be kept secret at all costs. But somehow, after that insane chase of Arthur, where Suzaku had saved Lelouch's life, Lelouch had managed to get him easily accepted by the rest of the school, and especially by his friends on the student council, although Nina had remained cautious.

Eventually he'd found out that the seemingly carefree Lelouch he knew at school, that he had believed to be his best friend, had been Zero. Had been the one that killed Euphemia, had been the one to continuously fight against him yet inexplicably spare his life at every turn. He had never felt so betrayed. At that point in time he'd thrown their apparent lie of a friendship behind him, and turned Lelouch over to the emperor.

When they'd met again, Suzaku had been very wary. Although Lelouch had supposedly had his memories wiped, Zero had returned, and he couldn't help be suspicious, he knew how good an actor Lelouch was. As it turned out, he'd been right to be distrustful of Lelouch, since he _had_ regained his memories, and had even managed to convince those keeping watch on him to join his side somehow.

Shortly after Shirley's death, and after the emperor had challenged Zero to a battle for the world, Lelouch had confessed to him, begging him to protect Nunally for him. He'd confronted his 'friend', and convinced himself that Lelouch, despite his methods, did actually want to do the right thing, despite the constant lies he'd spoken. Suzaku could tell at that point that it was a form of defence, that Lelouch found it near impossible to just speak honestly. He'd been willing to join Lelouch's side there and then, but Schniezel had interrupted. The look of betrayal on Lelouch's face, as he jumped to the conclusion that this was something Suzaku had planned, had been enlightening. Perhaps he'd just been misunderstanding Lelouch due to the situations. Perhaps it was all a matter of unfortunate circumstance on Lelouch's side that had caused Suzaku to feel betrayed.

He'd gone to kill the emperor, only to discover Lelouch was there with the same intent. There, in that strange place, he'd watched Lelouch destroy his parents for the future of the world. He'd agreed to help Lelouch to bring about a peaceful future. He'd been there, as the 'Knight of Zero', when Lelouch had declared himself emperor, and geassed all the naysayers present into submission. He'd fought on Lelouch's side as he stood in battle against the rest of the world, eventually emerging victorious.

And then finally, he was Lelouch's killer…

When Suzaku thought about Lelouch, he preferred to think of the smiling easy-going version that he'd seen at the school, as opposed to the vengeful version Zero had represented. Neither of those truly represented the real Lelouch though, they were both masks he wore to hide his real self. Suzaku had known the real Lelouch. He hadn't worn his masks so much when they'd been children, although perhaps that was just a lack of practice. The real Lelouch was the one that had revealed his plan, Zero Requiem, and asked for Suzaku's help, had apologised profusely for all the trouble and hurt he'd caused in the past, during that brief period when it had only been Lelouch, Suzaku and CC.

CC remained a mystery to Suzaku. He knew she was immortal like that other boy, VV, and that she'd given Lelouch his geass, but other than that he knew nothing. He'd often wondered about what sort of relationship the two had held, especially considering the amount of trust Lelouch had shown towards the green-haired woman. Despite this he'd eventually felt a degree of kinship with the mysterious woman. They'd both wanted to protect Lelouch after all, as his sword and his shield.

Well… Suzaku had fulfilled his role very well. He'd certainly been Lelouch's sword. Fighting for him, and helping to parry blows against him. He'd been a sword for him quite literally when he'd run him through with the self-same, somewhat ridiculous, pink sword Lelouch had waved around. He remembered the expression of heartfelt gratitude in Lelouch's eyes as he'd done so, and the tears he'd shed upon seeing it.

He thought back on Lelouch's final words:

_"You will be the defender of justice, and wear a mask forever."_

Had Lelouch known then what he was asking?

_"You will sacrifice all of your own happiness for the world… eternally."_

Had Suzaku understood what he was agreeing to when he'd accepted?

No he hadn't. If he had… he'd probably still have agreed. This was Lelouch, asking him to protect the world. He couldn't reject that, no matter the cost.

Even if 'eternity' did turn out to be truly eternity…

He wasn't sure how it had happened. He couldn't remember when he'd first noticed. There had been many situations over the first few years in which he could have died. But he put his survival down to the geass Lelouch had placed on him. The geass that even now still gripped his body from time to time, forcing him to move in ways he might not otherwise have managed. The geass he had some conscious control over, activating it and fighting against it when the situation called for it. Perhaps it was this geass that had caused it? Or perhaps the geass was just one of many contributing factors. He knew he'd probably never get the answer, and never was an awfully long time.

He'd noticed that he seemed incredibly resilient to illnesses three years after Lelouch's death, when practically everyone in the royal household had come down with a cold. At the time he'd put it down his continued good health to his being physically fitter, and to the mask he wore every time he left his chambers acting as protection.

Eventually it had come to his attention that he didn't appear to be any older than he had been when he'd first donned Zero's mask. Of course, since nobody ever saw his face, no one had been able to point out that he looked remarkably young for his age. Time continued to pass by, and Suzaku remained unchanged.

Circumstances had forced him to conclude that maybe, just maybe, he was now immortal. Or at the very least he was now immune to injury, illness and age… Who knew, perhaps in a few years time, when he hit the age his body would have expired at naturally, he would just suddenly drop dead. Suzaku was extremely annoyed with his situation because he didn't know what was going on, there was no conceivable way for him to find out, and he absolutely could _not_ talk to anyone about it. So instead, he blamed Lelouch. This was remarkably easy to do when the other was no longer around to protest otherwise.

_'Live on'_, he'd said. _Well, when exactly would you like me to live on until? _

Actually, there was one person he could have spoken to. That person had known the identity of Lelouch's killer. That person would also likely have some understanding of what he was experiencing. Suzaku could not visit him however; it would attract too much attention. Besides, that person was in hiding and Suzaku only had the vaguest idea where to look. It had been a long while since they'd been around, but no news of their death had been reported.

Suzaku knew he should stop reflecting so much on the events of his past, and stop thinking so selfishly. It was his job to protect the world and its future. He should be thanking Lelouch, or what ever it was that had caused this, and be more focused on the present. The events of fifty years ago may still have been talked about, but were beginning to fade out of living memory. The present generation couldn't really hope to understand what it had been like. There weren't even Knightmare Frames around any more. The majority of the war based technology had been scrapped shortly after Lelouch's death, and that which remained was now in museums. His own Lancelot had been destroyed in its last battle; it was how he'd faked his death. Not that there wasn't Knightmare-like technology around, but it was now being used for more peaceful purposes, such as in construction, agriculture and mining. This was more in line with what the Ashford Foundation had intended, before the military had got a hold of the technology. Occasionally old Knightmares had been brought out for use in ceremonial occasions, but with all their offensive weaponry disengaged.

And now… Well at the moment Suzaku was worried about Nunally. Of course he was _always_ worried about Nunally, since that was his responsibility, but she was sixty-five years old now, and he was increasingly worried about her health.

Just as his thought's turned to Nunally, there was a knock at the door of his chambers. Turning away from staring at the mirror morosely, he swept up and donned his Zero mask. Opening the door revealed a young woman he recognised as one of Nunally's attendants. He stood in the doorway expectantly, waiting for the girl to speak.

"Lord Zero, her majesty requests an audience with you in her private chambers."

Suzaku nodded his acquiescence, and assured the girl he'd be along shortly.

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A/N: Ok… I answered one question, but I set up a couple of other mysteries. Who is 'that person' that Suzaku refers to? Why does Nunally want to see Suzaku? When the hell are Lelouch and Suzaku going to be in the same place at the same time?

And I have a question for you guys. If I could somehow magically bring Rolo into this story, should I? I've made a poll, so go vote! Again, plot suggestions are welcome, because though this is developing it still doesn't really have a direction.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Well... this took me longer than expected. But here you have it, a third chapter. And guess what? I actually have some semblance of a plot now.

I want to thank people again... hmm, another long list, here it goes: Asami-chan37, Val-creative, LawliPop, Douceur, -w- easyenough, Tsuki no Akebone, dgraymanxxx, Fallen One-Winged Tenshi, Raven the Joker, GoGothGirl, AznAnimeChick, … (whoever you are…), Anave Lipad, sylee, Flor-sama, Kuroi Fushichou, Grace1776 Jr., LunaLocket, unlimitedsky, Azur twilight, Ally the Magnificent, Whisper Otonashi, enfant d' automne, Wavelet365, Kurodarkness, Mimeken, Nakora-chan, Sora-hana, MeijiOrO, Calamus, MysticMaiden 18, TimeTravelFreak, Flaylda, litokid-2, Nox Noctis of Eternus Luna, crimsonphoenix13 and of course, Dragonrider4000 (who is rewarding me, by giving me _another_ fic to beta…), for all the reviews, faves and alerts. You guys made me very happy!

And special thanks to those who voted on the poll. It's still open for all those who want to give me their opinion… (I put in a new choice for those who don't mind)

Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass. Now on with the chapter!

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Suzaku strode along the corridor majestically, Zero cloak billowing out dramatically behind him. Inside, he was wrought with worry. Nunally never called for meetings this late, which meant that whatever this was, it was strictly off the record. Hence why he was making his way with speed. If it was off the record, it was probably important.

Luckily the wing of the palace in which Nunally's quarters were located was only a short distance from where his own, considerably more modest, room was located. His largest, self-appointed, duty was as a bodyguard of sorts for the empress, but it wasn't considered proper for him to sleep so close. Nunally's zone of the palace also featured rooms for her large array of maids and attendants. It also had special additions that had been added shortly after her ascension to the throne of Britannia, which allowed easy access for her extravagant wheelchair. She was empress after all, although sadly, despite new advanced treatments, she'd never recovered the ability to walk.

He arrived quickly, and was let in by another servant, who bowed and left the room. Being bowed to was odd and bizarrely nostalgic, and was something that had confused him at first. Of course, he'd received respect as a Knight of Rounds, and people had occasionally bowed to him. That had been unusual however. Knight he may have been, but he was still seen as just an Eleven by the majority of Britannians. He'd been more used to it when he was small; bowing had been a Japanese custom, although it had diminished greatly after Britannia's invasion. But, as Zero, people bowed to him, since he held a position of authority. It was odd. He wasn't of royal blood, nor was he an elected official. He was a self-appointed entity, one who had no official duties, but had insinuated himself into the new world order without difficulty. Theoretically by having put himself in this position, he was something the new world stood against, but he was accepted, probably as he had helped create this new world.

Of course, everyone believed that this Zero wasn't the same Zero as the one that had killed Emperor Lelouch. They assumed that, whoever that had been, had selected and trained a trustworthy and competent successor, and they expected whoever Zero was at present to do the same. They certainly hadn't noticed any difference in behaviour from the masked man; they believed the new Zero had slipped into the role seamlessly. Again, Suzaku had been surprised that there had been no complaint or uproar about this, but then, since they hadn't been aware of a change, well considering there hadn't _been_ a change, they would have had problems complaining. But, he supposed, it was another one of those trust issues that the new Britannia seemed so keen on demonstrating towards him. A reason it was a good idea not to remove his mask. If they knew his identity, they would not be happy. Kururugi Suzaku was an ally of Lelouch vi Britannia, and thus an enemy of the new world. It would suggest the whole thing had been staged, which would detract from its value… No-one was allowed to know that it _had_ been staged, despite the reality of Lelouch's death.

Suzaku walked through Nunally's quarters, until he entered the sitting room, which was where Nunally met with people, on the rare occasions when she met people in her rooms. She was sitting in her wheelchair in front of a roaring fireplace, facing the doorway, her violet eyes trained on Suzaku as he entered and knelt before her.

"Your Majesty." He greeted formally.

"Zero-sama" she said with a smile. Greeting him with a Japanese honorific was something she only did in private. It seemed she suspected that Zero was Japanese, or it was some tribute to the heritage of Zero, that he had been 'born' in Japan, even though it was widely known that that Zero had been Lelouch. Suzaku had made no attempt to dissuade her from doing so, especially since it was only in private, so the name had stayed.

He raised his head. "You requested my presence, Your Majesty?"

She met his eyes through the mask, her violet gaze something Suzaku could never get used to, he was too accustomed to a smiling face with eyes closed, blind to the world. Despite having had fifty years to get used to it, he doubted he ever would. He didn't want to; he liked the striking feeling of her gaze taking him by surprise, it made her seem more powerful in his eyes. She gestured for him to stand.

"Please, you can address me as Nunally in private. I trust you."

Suzaku rose and took a seat, waiting for Nunally to reveal why he had been summoned. Finally after a minute of silent observation, Nunally spoke once more.

"As I said, Zero, I trust you. As I trusted your predecessor. I feel, that since you are here for my protection, that I can confide in you."

Suzaku bowed his head in acknowledgement.

"Lately, it has been made clear to me about the issue of succession. As you know, Zero-sama, I have no heir. I have not had the chance and I have been lacking the capability to do so even if I had."

It was true. The issue of Nunally's infertility had been a great disappointment to the kingdom, but it was an unfortunate side-effect of her disability. She had never been able have children, and as such had never married, not wanting to be 'used' in some form of political marriage, even if it was one she had arranged herself. This meant that, unfortunately, there was no direct heir to the throne of Britannia.

"The time has come for me to choose an heir, out of the children of my half- brothers and sisters. This is a difficult choice for me, not only because my family is large, but because I am worried that whatever my choice is, it will cause strife between the different branches of my family. I have put off choosing an heir this long for this reason."

"So you seek my advice?" queried Suzaku, knowing full well that he didn't feel capable of such a daunting task.

"No." said Nunally. "I would not seek to place you in such a vulnerable position, despite the fact that I would hope that either you, or your successor, will ultimately become the guardian of this individual. This decision must be seen as my own, I don't want to involve you in any trouble as a result. And of course, there is the fact that you are no longer supposed to be dabbling directly in political affairs." She giggled, momentarily reminding Suzaku of the young girl of so long ago, who had almost completely changed into the wise ruler of Britannia today.

"Then what would you have me do, Your Majesty?"

"I thought I told you to call me Nunally," she reprimanded. "Not a great deal. It is more your predecessor I wish to speak with. I have a task for him that must be carried out in utmost secrecy, and whilst I would trust you with it, I also have the need to retain my most capable defender, for I fear the actions certain relatives may take when they learn of the decision I am making."

"You fear they will attempt to force your hand?"

"Or worse. Hence why I wish to keep you. Are you aware of the present whereabouts of you predecessor?

"Which predecessor is this?" he questioned. He felt that given the timespan, that it was most likely that he was the recently appointed third zero in the role.

"Ah… that would be the one who did away with my poor deluded brother all those years ago." said Nunally sadly. "Out of everyone, he is the one I trust the most with this request. I know he is old now, a long time required from his position, but I believe him capable, and I do not think he would deny me this request. The most important one I would ever make of him."

"I am sure he would not." replied Suzaku solemnly, averting his eyes from Nunally's face even though she could not see. He was torn. A part of him desperately wanted for Nunally to know that it was him, that he was here. He knew his identity was supposed to be kept secret, to be revealed under no circumstances, but Nunally was willing to trust him with something so important, so why couldn't he trust her?

There was a momentary silence in the room as Suzaku made his decision. He raised a hand slowly to his mask, remembering, as he did every time, Lelouch's final touch, with bloody fingers, upon the side of his face, the memory strengthening his resolve. His fingers fumbled momentarily, nervously, on the clasp at the side of his helmet. Nunally looked on with interest, wondering what he was doing.

The helmet finally came undone, and he slid it of his head smoothly, and met Nunally's gaze calmly, betraying none of the anxiety or the fear that he felt within. He was met with a confused expression on Nunally's face. At first he assumed this was because he was Suzaku, and alive, and young. But then Nunally spoke.

"Zero? Who… who are you?" she asked uncertainly.

Suzaku cursed himself internally. Of course she wouldn't recognise him. She had never seen his face after she regained her eyesight. She didn't know what he looked like. He smiled in attempt to reassure her, as he realised a way to make himself known. Silently he slid the tight gloves of Zero from his fingers, somewhat thankfully since the fire was making the room very warm. Then he stood and knelt beside Nunally's wheelchair. He was unsure if this would work, it had been a very long while.

Taking a deep, apprehensive breath, telling himself it was too late to turn back now, he took her hand within his own, finally allowing himself to speak her name, as if it were a gift.

"Nunally…"

She looked at him in awe, comprehension dawning. She raised her other hand to his face, caressing his cheek, and taking in the feel of his hair.

"Suzaku?" she questioned, stunned. He nodded. "But… how… what… I don't understand."

"Neither do I," he said, leaning back to sit on the floor by her side, not wanting to let go of her hand. "I believe it's somewhat of a parting gift from Lelouch, so that I could protect you."

"With his geass?" asked Nunally. She frowned at the mention of geass, as if it were a bad word. Suzaku knew that Lelouch had used his geass on her, despite having sworn not to, to force her to hand over the button that launched F.R.E.I.J.A. Geass was a bad word these days, it's existence had been covered up with Lelouch's death, and those that knew of it never spoke of it.

Suzaku nodded grimly.

"I see," said Nunally, thoughtfully. "Well, I won't say that I didn't know it was you originally. I know you are the only one my brother would have trusted to carry out the role of staging his death. But since you didn't speak to me as Suzaku, I allowed you to remain anonymous. I didn't want to force you to reveal yourself.

"This does make my present circumstance more difficult however," she continued. "I still wish to ask this task of you Suzaku. It is very important to me. And if I must leave myself vulnerable for you to do so, then I will."

Suzaku's grip on Nunally's fingers tightened slightly. He didn't like the thought of leaving Nunally in danger.

"Although, should you wish, you can appoint someone to protect me in your stead during your absence."

Suzaku nodded. "I suppose I could do that. What is it that you want me to do Nunally?"

"There is someone I need you to find for me. It will be difficult, because, as far as I'm aware, there has been no news of his whereabouts for quite some time. However, he is someone whose advice, whose counsel I highly value. He is the person I wish to speak to about this matter. I am sure that finding him will be difficult, since he does not want to be found, but if it is you that goes, I'm sure he will return with you."

Suzaku was confused. Who was she talking about? From the sounds of it, it was someone who knew who he was, someone who would trust him. Suzaku couldn't think of very many people who fit that description.

"Who?" he asked.

"Someone who we both know very well. Someone whose death was greatly exaggerated." She smiled. "Suzaku, I need to you to find Lelouch."

Suzaku sat frozen momentarily as her sentence sunk in.

Then…

"What???"


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Happy Birthday Lulu! As a present I managed to get him into this chapter, event though I wasn't planning on it until I wrote it.

Again… Thanks go out to reviews, and new fave-ees and alert-ees: Flor-sama, LunaLocket, -w- easy enough, Lal Mirch, CristelleQueen1128, Fallen One-Winged Tenshi, Hermionechan90, X-potion, AznAnimeChick, LilPurplFlwr, Lady of the Air, asami-chan37, Azalie-Kauriu, Anave Lipad, Kuroi Fushichou, GoGothGirl, koyuki-san, MorningZ, Schnickledooger, dawnferra, setsuko teshiba, 6-The-Cloaked-Nocturne-9 , Makkura Arashi, Owarinainoyuki, laisidhiel, Rakanu. And of course Dragonrider4000.

… Wonderful people, every one of you!

Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass.

* * *

Nunally looked on at Suzaku's bewildered expression, wondering _how could he not know? _But then, she had taken a considerable amount of time to work out the truth of the matter herself.

"Lelouch isn't alive, he can't be… I killed him, I saw him die." Suzaku mumbled, more to himself than for Nunally's sake. "There's no way he could have survived that. How… how would he have managed that?"

"If I am right," started Nunally, her gaze piercing through Suzaku's stupor, "and I believe I am, otherwise I would not be asking you this, he was given something by that green-haired woman. I think CC was her name. Whatever it was, he understood it would make it so he wasn't killed, so that he would recover from the wound."

"Her…" Suzaku struggled to remember. What had it been called? "Her code? She gave that to him?"

"I don't know what it was, but that's what I saw."

"Saw?"

"I don't know how, and I don't think he meant for it to happen, but when I touched his…" Nunally stopped herself before she said the word _corpse_. "When I touched him, after you… you know… I saw some of his memories. That's how I knew you were Zero, that's how I knew about the plan you made together, Zero Requiem, and it's how I know he's still alive."

Suzaku, who'd been about to protest, faltered at the mention of Zero Requiem. There were only three people who knew the full truth of Zero Requiem, and, more importantly, called it by that name; himself, CC and Lelouch. Well, he knew he hadn't told Nunally, and he was fairly certain that CC wouldn't have. The only place she could possibly have heard it from was Lelouch.

"… I suppose," he conceded. "If that's true, then I will accept the prospect that he may be still alive."

"So, you will find him for me?"

"I will. I have a few things I want to ask him myself. But I don't know where I would begin searching."

"Jeremiah Gottwald," declared Nunally. "He's the one who supposedly got rid of the body. He should know where to start."

"Do you know where I can find him? I haven't heard anything of him since he stopped living with Anya at the orangery."

"He still visits the Asplund Institute twice a year for maintenance. They'll have his current address on record."

The Asplund Institute was a technological organisation, founded by Lloyd Asplund, father of the Lancelot, and 'friend' of Suzaku's. After his original research foundation, Camelot, was shut down when the production of war-based Knightmare Frames ceased, the pudding earl had needed something else to occupy both his time and his restless mind. The Asplund Institute was the result. It was responsible for many of the new world's mechanical gadgets, machines and toys. Though Lloyd himself had long since retired, the institute had had more than enough success to carry on without him.

Apparently, according to Nunally's latest revelation, they were also responsible for looking after Jeremiah. His mechanical parts wouldn't look after themselves after all; they required regular maintenance to maximise both their own, and Jeremiah's, lifespan. It was certainly true that Jeremiah's rate of ageing was reduced, at least, so it had seemed the last time Suzaku had seen the man, many years before.

Jeremiah had very quickly been excluded from all official proceedings after Zero Requiem. This was partly because he'd been loyal to Lelouch, without having been under the influence of his geass. He had been quickly pardoned for that however, after explaining that he'd been unable to protect the poor boys mother, and had felt he'd owed it to her. And now that Lelouch was dead, he would try to settle his debt further, by offering his services for Nunally's protection.

The other reason was more prominent, and had led to him being sent away. His mechanical implants, particularly the weapons had put him in the same class as the Knightmares. He was built for war, and therefore had no place in the new world order. Unofficially, his close associated with geass had also contributed to this. Even though what he possessed was a geass _canceller_, he was still deemed too dangerous, and the majority of the officials who'd known about geass had not wanted him in close proximity to themselves.

And yes, Jeremiah _had_ been left with the unenviable task of dealing with Lelouch's body. He'd supposedly buried him in an unmarked grave, to protect him from vandals, those wishing to take their own petty revenge on the tyrant emperor. He'd taken on the task readily; he'd been the only one who'd wanted it. Although now it seemed that he'd not buried Lelouch, but had instead helped him flee the country.

"I will go and find him then Nunally, and then I'll track down Lelouch, wherever he is. When should I leave?"

"I will arrange for Jeremiah's present address to be delivered to you first thing tomorrow morning." Good thing about power, she could get things such as this done quickly. "I would like you to leave immediately after that. I have very few official duties to perform over the next two days, so your absence will not be noticed. I expect you to have found some form of replacement by that time."

Suzaku already had a good idea who would take over for him for the short period he'd be away. He was pleased that Nunally had faith that he'd get things done quickly, although it was obvious she was anxious about speaking to her brother.

"I will leave tomorrow then." He stood and bowed his acceptance, then reclaimed his mask and gloves from their spot on the chair. "Was that all Nunally?"

"Yes." she replied

Suzaku pulled on the helmet and gloves, and bowed again. "Then I bid you good night Your Majesty."

"Good night Suzaku, and good luck." replied Nunally with a smile as Suzaku turned and left the room.

* * *

_The oppressing taste of dirt. The struggle, bloodied fingers clawing desperately upwards. A glimpse, a pale fragment of light through the cloying darkness, the brilliant shooting feeling of success as hand breached into the air. New strength flooding through at the sight of the bright moonlight, giving the ability to drag a gasping body upwards. Crawling forwards, away from the sodden soil of the former prison, and collapsing forwards onto the damp grass from exhaustion. Briefly, looking up, there was the familiar shape of a mountain, silhouetted against the moonlight. Finally, momentary strength gave out and vision darkened._

_A voice rang out across the space, unheard._

_Who am I? It asked._

_Who am I?_

* * *

Lelouch awoke with a start.

"Who… who are you?" he asked the empty room unthinkingly.

He sat up, confused, dislodging the snow-white cat from his chest where she'd been sleeping peacefully. She turned her green eyes on him, to glare at him momentarily, but then jumped down off of the bed gracefully and without further complaint followed Lelouch as he paced into the kitchen.

He made a cup of tea and sat at the table, looking out of the window and watching the dawn break, brighter colours seeping in slowly against the darkness. The white cat sprang up onto his lap, not quite ready to give up his warmth yet. He mused quietly on his dream, whilst gently stroking her soft fur.

Was it a dream though? He didn't think so. There had been a certain _familiarity_ about it.

He knew what it felt like. It was like that constant thrum in the back of his mind. The network, or whatever it was called, if it even had a name, that connected all those people worldwide who possessed codes. Though he said _all_ in reality there were only about half a dozen. He knew that CC had occasionally communicated with VV, and, she'd told him, Marianne as well, at least while she'd been out of possession of her own body, and merely riding around in the back of Anya's head. They did not talk to him. They remained silent. They did not know him. He was too new, too unfamiliar. Occasionally he felt a few vibrations that meant they were communicating with each other. But, as he figured, he would remain unable to speak to them until they'd actually encountered him physically.

Yet… this dream. It was the same feeling. But it wasn't a conversation, or any form of two-way communication. It was just a series of images, sensations. And a question.

_Who am I?_

The familiarity ran deeper than just the form the communication had taken. He felt he recognised the setting. Somehow he knew he could answer the question. He didn't know how, or where this place was. Just that he was the only one able to do so.

He smiled. He finally had something to do.

He watched as his other cat, this one black, slipped in through the flap in the door, and looked up at him in annoyance as he noted its food bowl was empty, even though Lelouch was awake.

He had something to do. He'd get right on it, as soon as he'd fed the cats.

* * *

The cats were a fairly recent addition to his life. He'd been moving around the country, changing locations every four or five years when he started to look very suspicious. Every time he did so he had to leave behind any acquaintances he'd acquired, although he never made friends. Friends were too dangerous. There only person who remained a constant in his life was CC's voice over the phone, and her increasingly infrequent visits. He was going crazy from the lack of contact with people, since for the most part he remained inside, not wanting to expose his face too frequently. He was lonely.

The cats had been CC's suggestion. Since he couldn't maintain contact with humans, and he wouldn't give anyone geass to bind them too him, she'd suggested that some form of contact, even with an animal would make him happier. This was around the time Mao had presented his young children, her grandchildren, with a puppy for Christmas.

So he'd taken her advice and gotten himself a couple of kittens. Cats suited him much more than dogs, and didn't require him to exercise them himself. He had more experience with cats any way, even if his memories of a certain Arthur were often associated with annoyance, like that time the accursed feline had run off with his mask. However annoying said cat in question may have been, cats did in general have an association with more pleasant times, and better company, such as Suzaku and the rest of the student council.

And, it had worked. With the two kittens, which rapidly grew up to become the occasionally irritating, but generally compassionate cats they were today, under his care, he felt much less alone. The cats didn't care that he was not quite human. They made no complaint about his apparent inability to age. They had quite contentedly moved across the country with him twice now. And, despite himself, he'd grown rather attached to the pair.

CC had teased him about them down the phone. She said he was like a crazy old lady, living in a house all by himself, never going out, with just his cats for company. He'd complained about this, but had smiled nonetheless, amused by CC's incessant teasing of him. He figured he could leave the cats with her, as soon as he figured out exactly where it was he was supposed to be going.

* * *

AN: Again, a few answers, and further mysteries. A sub-plot miraculously blooms into existence. And about the cats: Don't ask, I have no idea where they came from. They seemed to fit in well at the time. They have names too. Any guesses?


	5. Chapter 5

Finally a new chapter...

Thanks to: DuziInuChick, …, LawliPop, .VanillaRouge's Productions, 2stupid, Broken Hearted Idiot, Kyouto Tokugen, Ithilelda, -w- easy enough, Fallen One-Winged Tenshi, Lal Mirch, AznAnimeChick, alle-k, eMi to mAo 374, enchanted nightingale, Trishmeister, Lady Hanaka, Jacky-The-Ripper, GoGothGirl, SilverEchoes, Princess of Oblivion, darkshadowarchfiend, ., Myx-Xan, eternalsolace, JustAnotherBleachFan, Voldanita and Dragonrider 4000.

And AznAnimeChick gets a cyber cookie for having the closest guess at the cats' names. Oh… and 2stupid can have a cookie too along with anyone else who I annoyed by making you wait for an answer. Here's the reveal: They are _both_ named after the Lancelot. The black one is Lance, and the white one is Lottie. I did intend to say that the Lance had green eyes too, but I seem to have missed it somehow.

Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass... though I have been listening to the R2 soundtracks all afternoon.

* * *

Suzaku had set off early the following day. Nunally had informed a select group of personnel that he was to be taken to his destination as quickly as possible, so that meant Suzaku, dressed as usual in his Zero attire had been flown a considerable distance across the Britannian mainland, to a location not too distant from Jeremiah's present dwelling. He was left there, to make his own way, since the intent of this excursion was secret.

Since it was secret, he could hardly go around dressed in his Zero mask and cape. It drew far too much attention, so as soon as he was alone he changed. Suzaku being Suzaku, and hardly a master of discretion, his new outfit still managed to draw attention. As large coat with an upturned collar and sunglasses was hardly normal attire and made him look very suspicious. But it served its purpose; no one would recognise him as either Suzaku or Zero.

It was nice, he thought, to be able to travel around, without the weight of Zero on his shoulders. It was certainly a relief to be out of that ridiculous outfit. He really didn't understand what Lelouch had been thinking when he'd made it. But then Lelouch did have an unquenchable urge for melodrama, and the Zero outfit, especially the cape, demonstrated that. Of course, Zero's outfit was commonly associated with respect these days, but back when it had been Lelouch wearing the suit there had also been fear. And yet… Suzaku couldn't help but wonder what his Black Knights had thought when they'd first seen him in the suit, before he'd performed any actions to be associated with it. He wondered how he'd introduced himself. Surely it had been difficult to take him seriously at first, though if were anything like the way he'd presented himself to the world, in his dramatic rescue of Suzaku himself, he'd probably done it in the most histrionic way he could think of. Maybe he'd ask Lelouch when he found him…

So yes… the loose, informal clothing was nice. Being out from that stuffy mask was wonderful. Not being followed by blatant stares and mutterings of 'Lord Zero'… Needless to say, he was enjoying himself, despite the importance of his mission. He walked across the town casually, appreciating the peace, glad to be away from the hectic hustle and bustle that was everyday palace life. The information that Nunally had given him said that Jeremiah lived in a house just outside of the town.

He wondered what Jeremiah would have to say to him, since he was here as Suzaku and not in his Zero disguise. However, he figured he could risk this secret with Jeremiah. After all the man had kept all the other secrets he'd been entrusted with, although Suzaku was hoping he would give at least one of them up, that being information on where to find Lelouch. He smiled to himself optimistically as he trudged up the road out of town, he was glad he was here; he'd been wanting to speak with Jeremiah for a while now.

* * *

After checking the address to make certain that this was the right address, Suzaku stepped up and rang the bell, then stood awkwardly on the doorstep whilst he waited for a response from within.

Eventually the door opened to reveal the face of Jeremiah, who looked fairly startled at the sight that met his unmasked eye. By appearances he looked to have only aged a little since Suzaku had last seen him, many years ago when he'd had to deliver a message to Anya who at the time was living with Jeremiah at an orangery in a more southern area of the country. That meant he had not aged in accordance with the fifty years that had passed since requiem, instead looking only five or six years older. Suzaku wondered why. He supposed he could ask later. Suzaku knew Jeremiah recognised him despite the sunglasses but removed them anyway, and waited for Jeremiah to speak. After a few more moments Jeremiah's face cracked into a smile.

"Kururugi? Well, this is a surprise. Come in."

Suzaku followed the man through his home, feeling somewhat uncomfortable with the situation. He supposed it was because he was unused to being addressed by that name. Jeremiah instructed him to sit and wait a few minutes in the living room, returning shortly later with two steaming mugs of tea. A couple of minutes passed fairly awkwardly as Jeremiah merely observed Suzaku.

"So, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit Kururugi? And whilst I know I'm hardly the person to ask this question, but can I ask just how you have managed to hang on to your youthful countenance?"

"Nunally sent me. And I would love to tell you… but I don't actually know. It's probably Lelouch's fault though. Probably an after-effect of his geass. How about you?"

"Ah… it's something the mechanical parts do… they stimulate the production of telomerase, slowing down the effects of ageing. I'm not sure how it works, but apparently it was just another experimental part they put in. Schniezel's scientists got carried away and basically used me as a convenient toy to test all their technology with."

"So… what does that mean? You'll live forever?"

"No. As you can see, I'm still ageing, albeit slowly. And my immune system is also boosted so I don't get ill so easily. But I'm still susceptible to some illnesses, and of course still vulnerable to injury, though that more applies to my human parts, although if my mechanical parts are damaged significantly that's not good either. How is it working out for you?"

"Difficult question. I'm obviously not ageing. And I haven't been ill or significantly wounded so I can't really answer that. Lelouch made it difficult for me to get myself into situations where I can be fatally wounded, so I guess I won't have the opportunity to find out."

"The geass he put on you? I could help with that if you don't want it any more." He indicated his left eye, the cybernetic one hidden below his mask, the one which contained his unique geass canceller ability.

"No." said Suzaku. "I'd rather keep it… it's something Lelouch gave me, and if he wanted me to continue to live and protect this world, then I will not reject this duty until he tells me otherwise."

"Ah, I understand," said Jeremiah, smiling. "You are loyal to the cause Lelouch left to you, the cause he gave his life for. You wish to hold this up as best you can. You follow the path of chivalry."

"Speaking of Lelouch…" stated Suzaku apprehensively. "That's why I'm here."

"Oh?" said Jeremiah, nonplussed.

"We know, well Nunally knew and she told me, that Lelouch's death wasn't quite as permanent as it looked."

Jeremiah quirked his eyebrow, but refrained from commenting.

"You were in charge of his burial. But if he wasn't dead, then you must have helped him leave the country instead. It is very important for Nunally and I to speak to him, so I need to find out where he went."

Jeremiah nodded, accepting this accusation as the truth. Then he paused, apparently wondering what to tell Suzaku.

"Yes, I did help him escape. It was that morning." He didn't need to say which morning, Suzaku could guess. "He pulled me to one side before the pre-execution procession, and told me what was going to happen in secret. He said that Zero, who I presume was you, would appear, and I was not to take action. I was to allow his approach and I was to let him kill Lelouch. That was his plan; it was not allowed to be interrupted.

"And then, somewhat reluctantly, he told me that it wasn't going to go quite as planned. That I must not let anyone other than myself handle his body. He said that CC had selfishly messed with his plan, and he wouldn't die. But everything would fall apart if anyone found out he wasn't dead, I was the only person allowed to know.

"So after he 'died' I carried his body away from the scene as ordered. But it didn't seem like he was alive. The wound was certainly a fatal one, and hadn't taken long too cause his death; he'd lost so much blood. His body was limp, he had no pulse. And then I felt him stir in my arms as I walked from the scene. He didn't move much, he obviously knew the situation wasn't safe for him to do so, but it shocked me so much I nearly dropped him; I had to hold my expression until I had carried him to the car that he'd promised would there.

"I put him in, still pretending he was lifeless, and then got in too… the windows were tinted so no one could see in, doubly useful since CC was the driver. It took him a few moments to sit up, but the first thing he did was look at where the wound had been on his chest. By that point it was almost completely healed. We drove away quickly. He seemed to take a few minutes to get over the shock of having come back to life… But then he assumed his usual cool demeanour and changed out of his bloodstained clothes and into something clean, a disguise he'd asked CC to assemble for him quickly, since it was her fault his plans had to be changed.

"I went with them to a small building in the country for a couple of days, where they stayed until the chaotic aftermath of Lelouch's death had mostly passed. We burned his robes there. Then they went to the airport and I came back to the city. They went to Australia. I have the address they went to if you want, although they're probably not there any more. Though I expect it would be the best place to look next."

Suzaku had listened to the story intently. He hadn't really thought about what it would have been like for Lelouch to wake up after having 'died' from a fatal wound. It didn't sound like much fun. Suzaku had had some pretty nasty wounds himself, and he certainly didn't envy Lelouch. He didn't know how codes changed people, but pain was still pain no matter how quickly you recovered.

"That would be very useful" he replied.

Jeremiah wrote down the address he'd been given on a piece of paper and gave it to Suzaku.

"Do you have to leave right away? Or can you stay and talk for a while?"

"I suppose I can stay for a little longer. I wanted to find out how Anya's doing, I don't really get any news from people, since I'm an anonymous entity nowadays."

"Anya's doing well. How is Nunally?"

"I was hoping you would ask… do you want to see how she's doing for yourself?"

"I suppose."

"You wouldn't mind too much if I asked you to go and act as her bodyguard for a short time whilst I'm away. It's just she really needs someone to look after her for a while, she's afraid that once people know I'm gone, someone might make an attempt on her life. And I know I can trust you to protect her."

"Nunally is one of Marianne's children, of course I will protect her if she needs it. I am not sure I will be welcome in the palace, but if it isn't for too long there probably won't be too many complaints."

"Thank you!"

"Just tell me how I'm supposed to get into the palace in the first place."

"Tell them you are bringing Nunally a message from me. In fact, I'll write a letter and put my seal on it, which should make your passage smoother."

* * *

A week had passed since Lelouch had first had that strange dream. Since then he'd woken in the early hours of every morning with that question, '_who am I', _resounding in his mind. Each dream had been different, shown him different scenes, but he still had no idea who this mysterious person was. And yet, he was sure he _did_ know… he just couldn't place them. It niggled at the back of his mind, making him puzzle over it whilst going about his everyday mundane tasks.

He had a feeling that he needed to go to Japan, that that was where this mysterious person was, but he had no idea _how_ he knew that.

If he could have, he would have dropped everything and dashed off to Japan, to try and figure this mystery out. It would bring some form of excitement back to his boring life. Unfortunately, he had Lance and Lottie to look after. He was planning on taking them to stay with CC for a while when he eventually left, but she was staying with Mao and his family at the moment, and he could hardly go there to dump the cats. It wouldn't do for Mao to recognise his uncle Lulu, and start asking awkward questions.

So he had to wait for CC to return home. And waiting was making him anxious. He was worried about the mysterious person that was speaking to him through his dreams; the dreams did not exactly show happy events.

The good thing about being forced to wait, meant that he had perfected a disguise and packed everything he might need, as well as having made sure his fake ID was up to date. The moment CC returned home, he would be able to leave, dump the cats on her, and get a flight to Japan.

It looked like his frantic travel plans might have to be changed though…

There was a knock at the door.

* * *

A/N: Oh I wonder who that could be… well I don't because I know. And I'm sure you probably know too. I am anxious to get to the scene in the next chapter.

If Jeremiah seemed a little OOC, please remember fifty years have passed… he's allowed to have hanged a little bit. Of course, this is just a really useful excuse. And the science jargon, I do sort of know what I'm talking about (I'm a biology student), but you can blame New Scientist for having an article on telomerase.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I'm so sorry this took me so long to post… I really did intend to post it Thursday… but I was incapacitated by an evil headache and couldn't concentrate. And Friday… sooo busy… I travelled back home for the Christmas holidays so there was packing and travelling and unpacking, the inevitable onslaught that is my family… and no time for writing. also my wireless adapter vanished, so I was temporarily internetless. I hope this chapter makes up for its lateness.

Thanks to: 6-The-Cloaked-Nocturne-9, wquisttexabie, dawnferra, 2stupid, LawliPop, Sakurako Minase, GoGothGirl, Mikazuki Sakura, X-rage, Xellacard, risingsundynasty, -w- easy enough, DuziInuChick, estrelle solitaria, AznAnimeChick, Digimon Dreamer, Talchy, Mr Oob, Red-Clad Shadow, Isarandel, Freckled Glasses, js5, zodiac dragonHatori, athenswings, Turtle Kid, xxxCodeTsubasa, Rem, Atsukikomi, loveableneko, Kutsushita-Socks, Iadel, Persidie, Shiva-iceflame, sabertiger, happysnoopy22, maya1234, kuroi78, and of course as usual Dragonrider4000, who once again stayed up, encouraging me to finish the chapter and get it posted.

Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass...

* * *

The knock at the door came as a surprise, Lelouch _never_ had visitors. He received little to no mail so it couldn't be someone delivering a parcel. He wondered briefly if it was some sort of door-to-door salesman. He crept towards his front window, and moved the curtains aside discretely. He peered out, gaping in shock at who he saw standing there. He'd been planning on ignoring the door, but he supposed it would be best if he opened it now.

* * *

Suzaku stood on the doorstep, waiting for the door to open. Was this really Lelouch's house? It seemed far too normal. A small, two floor house, part of a terrace in the suburbs of a small town, a small patch of grass out front, not too well tended, but then Suzaku could hardly picture Lelouch doing the gardening. As if in testimony to the ordinariness of the house, there was a small cat flap on the door. A black cat eyed him warily from its position on the wall at the front of the garden.

Suzaku turned back to face the door. It had been a while, should he knock again? Apparently not.

The door slowly creaked it's way open.

* * *

Suzaku and Lelouch stood on either side of the door, Lelouch managed to keep his expression blank, but inside he was fraught with confusion. He hadn't been certain who it was until he'd opened the door and clearly seen the other's face, confirmed his suspicion.

There Suzaku stood, looking no different from how Lelouch had last seen him; the same Suzaku as of fifty years before. He had not aged at all. Lelouch wondered briefly if this was a dream, or a distant relative of Suzaku, or a ghost of his past come back to haunt him. He quickly dismissed all of those ideas. This was Suzaku, it was undeniable. He was standing there with an apprehensive expression, looking fairly uncertain what to say to Lelouch. Well… Lelouch could understand that, he had no idea what to say to the person who was inexplicably standing on his doorstep.

Oh well… if they stood here too long it might attract attention from one of his neighbours. He opened the door fully, gesturing for Suzaku to come inside.

Lance, from his position on the wall, glanced up, as if sensing the tension between the two, then casually jumped from the wall and padded into the house. This momentary distraction served to snap Suzaku from whatever daze it was he'd been in, and he finally crossed the threshold.

The silence however, remained as Lelouch led Suzaku into the small kitchen. Lelouch wondered what to ask first. He finally decided to let the question of Suzaku's apparent youth to wait until later, and settled on inquiring about the more pressing issue. Issues…

"How did you know I was alive? How did you find me? Why are you here?" he inquired bluntly. Well… years of minimal communication with other people had caused his social skills to wane considerably due to lack of practice.

"It wasn't exactly difficult," replied Suzaku, wondering if Lelouch _really_ wanted to know just how easy it had turned out to be to track him down. "Once Nunally had told me that she didn't think you were dead, and had pointed me in the direction of Jeremiah, it was simple."

Lelouch stared blankly at Suzaku for a few brief moments. "Jeremiah?" he frowned. "I thought I told him to deny my survival, no matter who asked."

"Well, he denied nothing. To be honest I was expecting him to put up more resistance, make it more difficult for me to get information out of him. But no, he gave me your Australian address no problem."

Lelouch made a mental note to scold Jeremiah, should he ever see him again.

"And? It's not like I'm living there now."

"Well, I'd already figured that you wouldn't be. But I asked the locals if they knew of a green-haired woman who had once lived there. I didn't want to ask after you; I didn't think they'd remember you, as you'd have been trying to keep a low profile. Besides, green hair is unusual anywhere, but it's almost unheard of in Australia, so CC would have been remembered."

"And?"

"Well, they all pointed me in the same direction, to a man who claimed to have married her. I didn't believe him at first, I couldn't really picture CC getting married. But then he showed me some pictures of the two of them when they'd been younger, and I recognised her, even if she was older than I remembered, and he called her by a different name. He wanted to know why I was looking for her, and I said I was there on behalf of an old school friend of hers."

"Nunally?" queried Lelouch.

"Well, yes, since I was there looking for you on her behalf, it wasn't a total lie. He told me he'd divorced her when he found out she'd been keeping too many secrets from him, but he said he didn't want to talk about that. Anyway, he said he'd remarried shortly after CC had left for England with their son. But if I really wanted to find her, he'd give me the son's address, since he still sent him and his family birthday cards every year."

"So you went to see Mao?" asked Lelouch.

"Yes. I was there yesterday."

"So you found CC there?"

"Yes. Though it took me a minute to recognise her. The 'green-haired witch' is not so green-haired anymore, I guess she really did give up her immortality to you."

"I know. She told you where to find me?"

"Yes," Suzaku smiled, "She seemed to find it quite amusing that I was trying to find you."

Lelouch frowned again. _That witch! How could she…_ He'd spoken to her only that morning and she had said nothing. Though… now that he thought about she had certainly sounded amused about something, like she was trying to restrain from laughing at him. But he hadn't thought anything of it. He would be telling her off too; she really did seem to take far too much pleasure from making his life difficult.

"Lelouch?" asked Suzaku, wondering why the other was so silent. "Are you angry with me for being here? I'm sorry if you are, but Nunally wanted me to find you, and I couldn't deny her, especially when I found out you were alive. She _really_ wanted me to find you."

Lelouch's frown deepened, and he finally let his eyes meet Suzaku's, the sudden flash of amethyst finally silencing the other. "No. I'm not angry with you. I _can't_ be angry with you. It's just not possible. Exasperated? Irked? Yes. But never angry." He averted his eyes slightly, and lowered his voice to a mumble, "It's actually quite nice to see you… I didn't think I'd ever get the chance."

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, Lelouch turned away, and took a few paces forward, as if to look out the kitchen window instead. Suzaku had come to find him on Nunally's request? He had quickly figured out how Nunally knew him to be alive, although why she wanted to see him now remained a mystery. It was a mystery that could wait a little; there was a more pressing question he wanted to ask.

"Suzaku…" he started, a little uncertainly. "Suzaku, how is it that you are the same as the last time I saw you? Fifty years have passed… I can't help but think my mind is playing tricks on me. I don't know how else to explain it."

Suzaku's eyes narrowed. "You don't know how? Well… guess what? I don't know either! The best explanation I can come up with is that it's all the fault of that accursed 'live on' geass you placed on me for whatever selfish reason it was."

His voice was rising, and he took a step towards Lelouch. Lelouch turned to face him, purple eyes watching him warily.

"As if _you_ have any reason to comment on _me_ not having aged. You're supposed to be dead! I killed you! I've been living with that knowledge for fifty years, how do you think it feels for me to be standing here knowing that I was wrong, that you're _alive_ and you _didn't _tell me! You could have trusted me Lelouch!"

He'd now crossed the full distance of the kitchen, and grabbed Lelouch by the shoulders. Lelouch's look had transpired to one of shock, and maybe a little fear. He wriggled trying to get free, but Suzaku's grip was too strong, and his back was to the wall, he couldn't escape.

"Why didn't you trust me with this? How come Jeremiah was allowed to know, but not me? And as for your mind playing tricks on you? You really think I'm a figment of your imagination?" he raised one of his hands threateningly, forming a fist; as if to hit Lelouch. "Well, could a figment of your imagination do this?"

Lelouch flinched; expecting the blow to fall, but it never came. He allowed his eyes to slide open slightly.

Suzaku was standing there with his hand still raised, still pinning Lelouch to the wall with the other, but the expression of rage had gone, replaced by one of pain.

A very _familiar_ expression of pain, one that brought back memories of student council meetings a very long time ago.

Lelouch looked down. Standing there, just having removed his teeth from Suzaku's leg, and looking very pleased with himself, was Lance. Lottie, who'd been roused from her nap in the sun by the commotion in the kitchen, was standing in the doorway looking bemused at the sight. Lelouch liked to imagine that if she could, she would have been sniggering.

A few seconds passed. Then Suzaku's eyes softened, and he lowered his fist. He stepped away from Lelouch, allowing him to sag the half inch Suzaku had raised him from the floor. It was Suzaku's turn to turn away, embarrassed by his outburst.

"But really Lulu," Suzaku said softly. "You could have told me…"

"I'm sorry," said Lelouch, honesty radiating from his gaze. "I wanted to, I really did. But there was no time between CC giving me her code and setting out that day. You'd already left. I barely had time to ask Jeremiah's help. And of course afterwards it was impossible."

"I'm sure you could have found a way…"

"And… Well… I guess I didn't want to load more responsibility on your shoulders. You were at enough risk protecting Nunally as Zero. I wanted the both of you to be safe, and by asking you to carry the burden of knowing I was alive… I thought it would put you at risk. I couldn't stand the thought of my survival putting you in danger."

"Lelouch…" said Suzaku, turning to face Lelouch once more, smiling faintly at the other for his foolish worrying. "I'm sorry for overreacting. I'm glad you're alive."

"I'm glad too," replied Lelouch. "That you're alive, that you're here. That you're still the same Suzaku I remember, for whatever the reason."

There were a few more moments of silence, although the tension that had filled the room before had drained away, leaving a comfortable feeling of easiness between the pair.

It was Lelouch who broke the quiet.

"So, why did Nunally send you to find me?"

* * *

A/N: there. Finally… I managed to finish the chapter. So, what will Lelouch do when he finds out what Nunally wants. And what will he do… he wants to find the source of his mysterious dream as well… Next chapter. This time I make no promises about when I will get it done. I have exams in less than a month, so I really should be working… so if there are no updates until mid to late January, this is why.


	7. Chapter 7

**Uber-long AN time:**

Thanks to: LawliPop, 2stupid, kuroi78, Serena the Hikari of Love, Zio Charmed, Wakaran a i xx, xxxCodeTsubasa, Princess of Oblivion, GoGothGirl, -w- easy enough, KarumA-chan, eternal solace, depointedulac, piday, broken-and-beautiful77, KuroKumo14, xXWinterXx, Fallen Oblivion Angel, servant of naruto-sama, Mikazuki Sakura, Amiri, ShinigamiKittens, terracannon876, primaaryet, qnhi, Johin, L Lexuran, Xovinn, Kuyeng13, knight of LawliPop, Cerebra Leader Aoki, phoenixflame2010, apetu tupea, Turtle Kid, youreverlastinglight, and of course Dragonrider4000.

Sorry for not replying to reviews last chapter, I feel really gulity about it, and I swear I'll do better this time! But on top on revision, I also had a lot of computer problems this holiday and I had to completely reboot the entire thing. Luckily I had everything backed up, the main thing that's annoying me now is that my keyboard's peculiarity of the **"** and 'at' buttons being reversed has gone. And it's very confusing… And my custom dictionary has to relearn everything… (my spider solitaire stats have gone too...)

But on the bright side: The exams are over! My arm is tired… so much essay writing. But I think I did pretty well. I certainly wrote lots, though whether any of it was relevant I have no idea. Special thanks to LawliPop for wishing me luck.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Code Geass.

* * *

"So why did Nunally send you to find me?" asked Lelouch.

"…" Suzaku hesitated, not particularly wanting to inform Lelouch that his sister wanted him to remove himself from his self-imposed isolation and discontinued political involvement, to resolve the issue of her successor. Whilst considering how to express himself, Suzaku followed Lelouch into the slightly more comfortable sitting room, and took a seat in a small armchair opposite Lelouch.

He glanced around the room nervously. This living space, much like the house in general, was small and understated, hardly what Suzaku would have expected from Lelouch, who seemed more accustomed to, and experienced with, far more opulent accommodation, especially as a young prince and during his brief spell as Emperor. Not that Lelouch presently needed an elaborate home. It wasn't like anyone but himself, CC and now Suzaku had even seen it. He was only living here for a short period, and he would be leaving just about everything that wasn't absolutely necessary behind when he moved on.

What drew Suzaku's eye was one of the only personal touches the room held. An old photograph, taken oh-so-very-many years ago, when Lelouch had been a child. The picture, Suzaku remembered, had been taken shortly before Britannia's invasion of Japan, whilst the two young Britannians had been living on his father's estate. Smiling up from the picture were three young faces, those of Lelouch, Nunally and Suzaku himself. Suzaku smiled briefly, wondering just how Lelouch had managed to get hold of the photo.

"Well?" demanded Lelouch, bored of staring at the nostalgic expression on the brunette's face as his anxiety made him impatient.

Suzaku snapped from his reverie, realising that he was supposed to be answering Lelouch's question. He turned his gaze back to Lelouch, eyes sparkling happily as they once more met with the sight of his supposedly long dead friend. Suzaku sighed, bracing himself, and answered. "She wants you to come back to Britannia" he forced out, near unintelligibly.

Lelouch raised an eyebrow in his usual calm, composed manner, and simply asked "Why?"

"She wants your advice. The issue of a successor to the Britannian throne hasn't been sorted out yet, as I'm sure you know, and she's worried that her present advisors on such matters are at risk of, or have already been, compromised. She feels that some members of your family may want her choice to go in a certain direction, one more in their favour."

Lelouch smiled, but there was no amusement in it. "Oh yes, good old Britannian family backstabbing and political intrigue. Oh how I miss it."

"Lelouch…" started Suzaku, wanting to scold his friend for the unnecessary sarcasm.

Lelouch interrupted him with a colossal sigh. "You don't need to lecture me Suzaku. I'm hardly likely to neglect a plea for help from Nunally am I? Especially when she went to all the trouble of sending you all the way around the globe to find me."

A massive grin spread its way across Suzaku's face at Lelouch's positive, if reluctant, response. Of course Lelouch wouldn't be able to deny a request from his little sister, he'd reshaped the world for her after all, even if he knew for a fact that Nunally hadn't approved of the methods, no one could deny that the outcome had been a successful one. In comparison, Nunally's present request was small, and was something she had actually _asked_ for this time.

"So," asked Lelouch, "when does she expect to see me?"

"Well, in theory, as soon as possible. Though in reality, she doesn't expect us back for another couple of weeks at the earliest. We were expecting it to take a lot longer to track you down."

Lelouch frowned slightly at that. "Well, I'm sorry I didn't meet your expectations, but I honestly didn't expect anyone to be looking for me."

Suzaku chuckled warmly at Lelouch's defensive response. "Plus there's obviously a few other things that to sort out before we can go. In particular you need a disguise, and I guess that would take some time to put together."

"Because I can hardly return to my homeland as Lelouch vi Britannia" said Lelouch moodily. He didn't need Suzaku to tell him that. "Lelouch vi Britannia is dead. They'd spot me instantly and probably have me executed. And 'dying' wasn't much fun the first time around. I'm not looking for a repeat experience."

Suzaku nodded uneasily, fully aware that the first 'death' was his doing. "So, a disguise…" he started, attempting to think of a way to camouflage Lelouch so he could easily enter the palace.

"What if I were to tell you that I've already got a disguise prepared, and can easily come up with a more suitable identity to go with it? Would you accompany me on a brief side trip before we travel to Britannia?"

"If you've already got a disguise prepared then why not leave straight away? Why a side trip?"

"If you weren't expecting to return to Britannia for a while, then knowing you, you'll have left Nunally under trustworthy protection. And the side trip? Well, Nunally's not the only one who needs my help."

"Who?" asked Suzaku, unable to think of anyone who would know that Lelouch was alive, and would ask for his help.

"I wish I could tell you, but whoever it is doesn't seem to know either. That's what they want my help with, and I think I can help. That's why I need to go to Japan. I've got a ticket booked for tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?"

"Yes, that_ is_ what I just said. I'm leaving as soon as CC has picked up the cats in the morning."

"Can you give me the flight details? If I'm coming with you I need to get on board too."

"Good point" replied Lelouch as he stood and then dug through a desk looking for the right bit of paper. He handed the necessary details to Suzaku, who pulled out a small phone from his pocket.

"Are you hungry?" asked Lelouch, to which Suzaku nodded.

"I'll start making some dinner whilst you do that then."

* * *

A short time later Suzaku entered the kitchen, taking a moment to observe the faint smile on Lelouch's face as he stood over the stove.

"Something smells good," he declared conversationally, "but then your cooking always was. You know, Milly always used to say you'd make an excellent wife one day."

Lelouch blushed faintly, almost imperceptibly, at the implications of the comment, turning his head away from the other, before offering a response. "Well… cooking is more worthwhile when it's for more than just yourself. And you know as well as Milly did that I had to learn to cook for Nunally's sake."

Suzaku smirked, unable to resist the opportunity to tease Lelouch further. "That, and your _other_ housewifely skills… especially sewing and making your own outfits. I _know_ you made your Zero costume yourself, and you probably had a hand in the design of several other outfits as well."

Lelouch remained silent, refusing to acknowledge that particular observation, instead choosing to change the subject. "You didn't take long on the phone; did you get on the flight?"

"Easily. I've become quite practiced at getting onto flights at the last minute this week. Being an 'associate of Zero' and travelling 'on behalf of the Britannian empress' helps of course."

"Of course..." replied Lelouch, slightly peeved that Suzaku was drawing unnecessary attention to his travel plans, but then dismissed it as irrelevant, it wasn't like anyone would think anything of it. No one knew he was travelling with Suzaku, Suzaku wouldn't be travelling as Zero, presumably under another identity, and Lelouch himself would be in disguise.

"So do I get to know what this disguise of yours is?" asked Suzaku inquisitively

"You'll see tomorrow" replied Lelouch, eyes sparkling mischievously. He was slightly embarrassed about having to wear this particular disguise in front of Suzaku, but he was also hoping that the other's reaction to it would be entertaining. "You should take a shower after dinner, and let me wash your stuff before we go."

"Why? I've got plenty of clean clothes."

Lelouch glared at the other, communicating that it was obvious; Lelouch was _not_ going anywhere with someone with a bag half full of dirty clothing unless it was absolutely necessary.

"Ok, you can wash them if you like," replied Suzaku, refraining from any further comments he considered making. He did not want Lelouch in a bad mood with him after all.

* * *

Several hours later Suzaku awoke with a start.

He was in Lelouch's bed wearing Lelouch pyjama's, at Lelouch's behest. Well… since Lelouch had seemingly insisted on washing everything Suzaku had brought with him, whether he'd worn it or not, he hadn't had anything to wear to bed.

Suzaku supposed that Lelouch's odd behaviour in wanting to look after Suzaku, and do as much for him as possible, was his way of asking for his forgiveness about lying to him about his death. Of course, it could be just that the other had been lacking sufficient human contact for some time, and didn't want his friend to leave him. Lelouch was so insecure sometimes. But Suzaku couldn't really blame him, he'd been betrayed too many times before. And he wasn't innocent of the action himself, he supposed. So Suzaku had accepted the pyjamas, even if they were a little small for him, and had also accepted Lelouch's offer of sharing the only bed in the house. He supposed Lelouch wasn't the only insecure one; he wanted Lelouch to trust him, he didn't want to lose his friend either.

He glanced around the room blearily, wondering what it was that had woken him up. His eyes fell about the dark haired boy lying beside him. He didn't feel weird about sharing the bed, since it was something they had done frequently as children, and it was nice to be reminded of those times. But Lelouch had always been such a peaceful sleeper, rarely tormented by nightmares, and never when either Nunally or Suzaku had been present, his companions acting to banish the memories from his unconscious mind.

But now…

Lelouch tossed in his sleep, groaning painfully, turning so Suzaku could clearly see the distressed expression on his face, even in the dim room under the faint glow of the moon, and the city lights.

He was clearly not sleeping well.

Suzaku didn't like seeing Lelouch like this. Tentatively he reached out to touch the other's shoulder, hoping to comfort Lelouch without waking him. A tingling, sort of pins and needles sensation shot down his arm as he did so. And yet, it seemed to help. Lelouch's breathing settled slightly, his breaths changing from short and shallow, to somewhat longer, deeper ones. Unconsciously, the other boy moved closer to Suzaku's side, seeking further comfort. This close, Suzaku could hear Lelouch muttering quietly in his sleep.

"Who… who am I?" he murmured. "Help me…"

Suzaku pulled his sleeping friend closer, wary of the tingling sensation, but his desire to comfort his friend overruling. He allowed the slumbering Lelouch to drape an arm across his chest and rest his head on his shoulder. Finally the dream, whatever it had been, seemed to leave Lelouch and he quietened, falling into a much deeper sleep.

Briefly running his fingers though the dark hair of the other a couple of times, Suzaku yawned, and settled down to go back to sleep.

* * *

A/N: And that's it. For now anyway. To be honest, I probably could have continued and written a lot more, but I'm tired, and that seemed like a good stopping point.

So… any guesses on what Lulu was dreaming about? Actually no, that's probably obvious. A better question would be…. Any guesses on Lulu's disguise? … I'm pretty sure that one won't be too difficult either.

Hope I didn't keep you guys waiting too long. And I'll try to get the next chapter done as soon as possible, and hopefully it might be a little longer.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: **Thanks to: L Lexuran, -w- easy enough, Nox Noctis of Eternus Luna, DF, BishonuenYaoiLover, Lady Laziness, 2stupid, Turtle Kid, Ookami Fuu, GoGothGirl, eternal solace, kuroi78, terracannon876, silverbrumby123, xxxCodeTsubasa, karin1004, JuneEmery, primaaryet, Authoress, Mikazuki Sakura, Hamano, .VanillaRouge's Productions, Crescent Dragoness, Roxie Zephyr Jocelyn, Korikoto, bubbleheadz, Demosthesis, Miraploy, monty shen, animelover180, Oridance Vance, BabyBottle, and Dragonrider4000.

So many guesses as to Lulu's disguise… all seeming to think the same thing. Well, I guess you can find out. Much longer chapter this time too.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Code Geass.

* * *

_It was dark. It was always dark, that was how they kept it in here, like they were keeping animals or something even lower, not people. The darkness… it made all sense of self, any individuality, difficult to keep hold of, especially when the identity you sought to hold on to was fragile enough to start with. The perpetual silence didn't help either._

_It would have been nice if they'd made some effort to provide basic human amenities, like food or water. It wouldn't make any physical difference, eating was impossible, and it wasn't needed any more anyway._

_So long in the dark, so long alone, all sense of time had vanished. Just occasionally there was a sense of someone else there… That feeling was there now. The presence was non-threatening, simply slightly comforting, banishing the loneliness. This other presence, it never spoke, did not respond to desperate questions, but was somehow reassuring nonetheless. The presence… it always seemed to have its own loneliness about it, a different kind, but this feeling seemed weaker this time._

_Suddenly a vague echoing sound rang from the corridor this room connected to. _They _were coming again. A sensation of fear flooded the senses, reaching the other presence. When _they _came… their visits were rare, a break from the dull monotony of sitting in the dark, but dreaded anyway. The rare visits... maybe there were others here to share their attention… these thoughts, attempts at distraction from the fear, failed. The echoing developed into several sets of footsteps, the increased intensity of dread causing the foreign presence to cry out._

_Suddenly there was a strange soothing sensation. A warm tingling spreading down from the shoulder. Was it the presence? Maybe... but it felt a little different._

_Before _they_ arrived, something had to be done. Focusing on both the old presence and this new feeling, a quiet voice broke the silence._

_"Who am I?" it asked. "Help me."_

_The door swung open and light flooded into the room, but before terror could take hold, the sensation seemed to respond to the plea, spreading across the chest, throughout the body, a warm cocoon of reassurance. The presence started to fade, taking the tingling with it, but leaving behind a sensation of hope. They were coming…_

* * *

Lelouch felt oddly warm and content when he awoke early the following morning. The warmth fogged his brain, making his return to consciousness more sluggish than usual. As his mind sped up to its usual processing speed he realised he was sprawled across another body, which was why he was feeling warm. It took another few moments for him to realise it was Suzaku's body, and that Suzaku's hand was resting lazily on Lelouch's head, whilst he continued dozing peacefully.

Lelouch sat up slowly, blushing as his body informed him that it did not want to leave the other's warm embrace. He leant back, resting his head against the headboard. He'd had another dream; that far off voice once more calling out to him for help. The dream had been a little different though, whoever it was had suddenly stopped being scared, as if they were being comforted. Lelouch's eyes settled on the sprawled out form of the slumbering brunette, concluding that perhaps he'd had something to do with that.

He sighed, swinging his legs over his side of the bed. He had a lot to do before CC arrived, and the sooner he got up the more he could relax. He stood, and retrieved several items from the wardrobe, and hurried out of the room with an expression somewhere between a smirk and grim anticipation. He still hadn't quite decided how he felt about this.

Settling the bundle in his arms down on a convenient surface, Lelouch stripped out of his pyjamas and stepped into the shower. As the warm rivulets of water ran over his body he allowed his mind to turn once more to his dream.

He knew, with unshakable certainty, that the person whose thoughts he shared in these dreams was a real person, and that they needed his help. He wouldn't be neglecting Nunally to visit Japan if he didn't. He knew that when he had these dreams, that whoever it was he connected with knew he was there, and for some reason had also apparently sensed Suzaku's actions. He had pondered the nature of this link before, especially since he could recall these periods of shared consciousness far better than any dream, but this incident with Suzaku made him even more curious as to what was going on.

He also wondered about what sort of person it was, since he had very little to go on. The first dream he'd had he now thought of as a generic distress call, showing him an important memory of the other, one that had led to the situation they were in now, and also was related to their apparent lack of identity. Other than this he had very few clues as to who it could be. The first dream was important; he'd figured out that the familiar looking mountain he'd seen silhouetted was, in fact, Mt. Fuji, and therefore this person was probably in Japan.

He also had a few suspicions about this person. From what they'd felt about food and water being unnecessary he assumed this person was likely another immortal, one who could survive without these things, even if from personal experienced they preferred not to try. Even if you didn't need to eat you could still feel hungry. CC's perpetual pizza cravings were all the evidence anyone needed for that.

The individual was also being held somewhere against their will, possibly with others, and the people there were possibly experimenting on him, probably to determine more about the nature of their immortality.

This, ultimately, was the reason Lelouch was going to Japan before visiting Nunally in Britannia. After discovering how CC had been treated at the hands of Schniezel's scientists, and later becoming an immortal himself and thus likely to attract the same attentions, Lelouch had made himself a promise; such treatment was _not _allowed, and he would take all actions possible to prevent it from happening, wherever he possibly could. He _would _help this person with this at least, even if in the end, he could provide no help with their identity.

He stepped out of the shower, feeling more invigorated and driven, ready to face whatever challenges lay ahead. Even the disguise he'd picked out for himself seemed less daunting. He glanced over at the clothing he would be wearing today. Yes, it was a necessary blow to his pride, but would most defiantly be worth it in the end.

* * *

Suzaku awoke to the sound of a shower running in the other room, and smiled as he remembered the events of the day before. He'd found Lelouch! And they were going to Japan together!

He was understandably excited to be visiting his home country once more. He'd only been there a couple of times since donning Zero's mask, when he accompanied Nunally to meetings with the government of Japan which had re-emerged since they had gained their freedom from Britannia. He hadn't exactly had many opportunities for sightseeing; though he'd hardly get that this time either. He wanted to get this done quickly, since he felt kind of guilty about not dragging Lelouch straight back to Britannia. Not that he was going to try. Lelouch was very good at getting his own way, even without geass involved.

He heard the water shut off in the bathroom and decided perhaps he should get up and do something before Lelouch came back in and nagged him. He had to retrieve some clothing from Lelouch's washing spree yesterday and pack the rest.

* * *

A short while later Suzaku was sitting in the kitchen eating a breakfast he'd put together from the scant resources of food he'd found. He was wondering exactly why Lelouch was taking so long to make an appearance.

His question was answered when the door opened slowly and Lelouch's face peeked through nervously.

"Morning," said Suzaku, confused by Lelouch's odd behaviour.

"Morning," replied Lelouch, still mostly hiding behind the door. "Don't laugh, ok?"

"Uh… ok," agreed Suzaku uncertainly.

Lelouch opened the door and stepped into the kitchen. Suzaku's jaw dropped open as he was rendered temporarily speechless.

"You're… you're… you're…" he tried vainly. The shocking sight was just too much for him to get any further.

"This is my disguise," declared a blushing Lelouch, though he was laughing inside at Suzaku's stunned reaction. "Meet Lucinda Lamperouge, aka Lulu, my mother's sister's granddaughter. Of course, she doesn't really exist, but the rest of my family won't know any better, as long as you and Nunally play along."

Lelouch was dressed, quite convincingly as a female, the simple yet elegant purple dress hugging his slim figure and bringing out the colour of his eyes. The dress was in a style Suzaku recognised as quite fashionable in Britannia at present, and the presumably fake yet modest additions to his chest area did nothing to betray Lelouch as a male. The look was completed by hair extensions, lengthening and blending with Lelouch's natural hair colour, and a small amount of make-up.

Lelouch pulled off the female look remarkably well. Suzaku would have had to admit that he looked rather stunning if he'd been asked, so he hoped Lelouch wouldn't.

"Lucinda Lamperouge? _That's_ your alias?" he asked, coming out of his stupor. Really, he thought Lelouch could have come up with a less suspicious sounding fake name. "Are you sure it's wise to use Lamperouge again? Won't people associate that with your old secret identity?"

"They won't. Lamperouge was actually my mother's maiden name, that's why I chose it originally. So it actually makes my identity more believable since my family wouldn't expect me to try using it again. Of course it also means that my mother was illegitimate since she still has that name, which means people won't ask too many questions. " Lelouch hesitated momentarily, fiddling with one of his sleeves.

"Uh…" he started again, blushing once more and averting his eyes from the other. "Do you think my disguise is believable? That I won't be recognised?"

Suzaku paused, wondering what he could say that wouldn't end up with Lelouch glaring at him. After all 'you make a very believable female' was probably not the answer Lelouch was looking for.

"You won't" he said finally. "It's a very well put together disguise, and you look passably female. Besides, I don't think anyone who knew you could imagine you wearing such a thing of your own free will."

Lelouch relaxed slightly. Suzaku wasn't laughing at him, for the moment anyway, and he seemed to think the disguise was sufficient. Though given Suzaku's track record with disguises, perhaps he wasn't the best person to ask. He moved further into the kitchen and decided to have some breakfast. There was still half an hour before CC was due to get here.

"You know… it reminds me of that time." said Suzaku with a faraway expression. Lelouch grimaced, he had a feeling exactly what time Suzaku was referring to, and did not want to admit that that was where the idea had come from. "You remember… Milly's crossplay festival. What did she call you? Luluko? Why didn't you use that as an alias?"

Lelouch was very glad he was facing the other way when Suzaku said this. Suzaku was quite glad too otherwise he'd be on the end of Lelouch's death glare for reminding him of that mortifying experience.

"Because Luluko is a Japanese sounding name, and I'm clearly not. My disguise is as a Britannian, so I need a Britannian name."

Lelouch turned, smirking faintly as he decided the most appropriate response to Suzaku's apparent amusement. "And when you're dressed, can you do me a favour?"

"Sure, whatever you need."

"The cats need to be put in their travel boxes so CC can take them with her; could you do that for me if it isn't too much trouble?." He smiled sweetly, destroying Suzaku's incentive to decline. "I'd do it myself, but I don't want to mess up my dress and they really don't like being forced into confined spaces."

Suzaku looked at him with a horrified expression, but nodded his acceptance.

"Good," said Lelouch, "you'd better hurry up, she'll be here soon."

As Suzaku scuttled back out of the kitchen and up the stairs he heard the unmistakable sound of Lelouch laughing.

* * *

Half an hour later, Suzaku was back in the kitchen, hands scratched and bleeding. Lelouch had been right; those cats had not wanted to go in those boxes. Lelouch applied antiseptic and plasters to the deeper scratches, taking the opportunity to tell a horrified Suzaku their cover story for the day. It was best to get it right, in case anyone asked. Just as they finished there was a knock at the front door. Lelouch sent Suzaku upstairs to fetch his suitcase, whilst he answered it.

Lelouch had informed CC in advance that he would be travelling in disguise, so she'd already heard that he would be wearing a dress. In fact one of the reasons he was already wearing it was because she was being driven home by Mao, and she'd asked him to provide transport to the airport. He couldn't have Mao recognising him as his uncle Lulu, after all.

Despite being forewarned, CC's first reaction on Lulu opening the door was for her eyebrows to shoot up. Then a smirk spread across her features. "Oh… Lulu," she exclaimed, "How utterly radiant you look this morning, I'm sure all the other women on your flight will be jealous of your natural feminine beauty."

Lelouch's eyebrow twitched in annoyance and his eyes narrowed slightly. CC may have aged, but her ability to effortlessly wind him up had not dimmed even slightly.

"I _was_ going to invite you in for a cup of tea, but we need to get to the airport early so Suzaku can pick his ticket."

"Ah, so your beloved Suzaku is coming with you then?" Lelouch's eye twitched again. Ever since he'd used his geass to save Suzaku's life, despite him technically being an enemy, CC had continuously mocked their friendship.

He was saved from having to come up with a witty response as Suzaku appeared once more, laden down with Lelouch's oversized suitcase and his own bag of clothing.

"Come on Suzaku, time to go." Lelouch said cheerily, holding the door open so Suzaku could stumble out and carry their stuff to the car. "Don't forget to go back and pick up the cats." he added helpfully.

Lelouch and CC stood and watched as Mao got out of the car and the two men after a brief exchange, started trying to fit the luggage into the back along with CC's own assortment of stuff.

"Playing the helpless female card already Lelouch?" queried CC

Lelouch smirked. "Of course. Why bother carrying heavy things when I've got Suzaku so willing to do it for me."

Eventually the two succeeded. Suzaku went back inside for the two cat boxes. Luckily the pair had settled down in the ten minutes or so they'd been imprisoned and didn't make much fuss as Suzaku brought them out of the house. Lelouch locked the door behind him.

Mao opened the front passenger seat for his mother who climbed in and accepted one of the cat boxes, the one containing Lottie, to hold on her lap for the time being. Then Mao shook Lelouch's hand, offering his congratulations to his beautiful cousin Lulu, despite having seemingly never met her before. The man then got into the car himself.

"Explain to me again why we're pretending to be engaged?" Suzaku hissed at Lelouch as he opened a car door for his supposed fiancé.

"Because I had to come up with a reason for you travelling with me on short notice." Lelouch whispered back, leaning closer to Suzaku so Mao couldn't hear. Then he raised his voice a little, slipping into more female tones, intending for the other two to hear. "Now hurry up and get in the car dear, we don't want to be late for our flight, do we? Whatever would your parents think of me if I allowed that?"

* * *

**AN:** So yes, the twelve people who guessed he would be wearing a dress, you were right. Although given that it's practically canon, it could hardly be anything else.

I guess I managed to put a little bit more plot in this time. They've left the house at least. It will pick up the pace soon though... well hopefully.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: **Thanks to: Heidi-mayer87, kuroi78, monty shen, Shuji4ever, bubbleheadz, yukidaru, ShinigamiKittens, KnighteWolfe, Kuyeng13, 12thhourbells, LawliPop, Serena the Hikari of Love, 2stupid, az14, Tsuki no Akebono, Bluez13, -w- easy enough, Northality, eternal solace, Turtle Kid, orphen chica, XxCanoli Is What I'm CalledxX, lilyanpheno, …, piratepenguin666, Spout-of-Reianess, GoGothGirl, AshofMine, bibixiaobaobei, dchoe, hilda211, RangerInBlack, silverrowan, shardsofvanity, MagicalStarlight, and Dragonrider4000!

I don't know how obvious it is, but I've haven't flown anywhere since I was three and I obviously don't remember it. Thus I have no idea what I'm talking about when describing the airport… Nevertheless, this was _very_ fun to write.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Code Geass. Or the characters I am having so much fun playing with…

* * *

Thankfully for the pair in the backseat, the drive to the airport was a short and uneventful one. CC and Lelouch somehow managed to fill the silence with meaningless conversation, stopping Mao from asking any questions that Lelouch and Suzaku hadn't rehearsed answers for. Lelouch seemed to be playing into his role as the 'crazy cat lady' giving CC detailed instructions on exactly what she should and should not do with his cats. For example: she was _not_, under _any_ circumstances, to let them eat pizza, not in the least because the tomato sauce would stain their fur.

Suzaku watched with some amusement as Lelouch slipped perfectly into his female role. How many years had it been, and his acting skills hadn't faded at all. It annoyed Suzaku somewhat, that he was rarely ever able to spot honest behaviour from the other. He supposed Lelouch hadn't been given an opportunity for his acting skills to grow lax. He could hardly be himself nowadays, since he had to pretend to be an ordinary person, living in an ordinary town, with an ordinary life. He got a lot of practice at pretending to be something else. Suzaku hoped that at least Lelouch would feel comfortable being himself around him.

They arrived at the airport, identities safely intact, and CC sent Mao off to find a trolley for their luggage. Of course, Suzaku could easily have managed to carry it by himself, but CC really just wanted a few moments alone with the other two.

"Well… I don't know what you two are up to in Japan of all places. But please try to remember that I'm not gonna be able to transport across the world and swoop in to rescue you like before Lelouch."

Suzaku nudged Lelouch slightly, "She did that?" he whispered.

Lelouch frowned and looked away. "Maybe once or twice" he said dismissively.

"Well… don't do anything stupid. And I expect to hear all about it when you get back Lelouch, or these cats may not make it back home."

After a few seconds of glaring on the part of Lelouch, Suzaku nudged him again, to alert him to Mao's return.

"Ah, of course I'll tell you all about the trip. And I guess we'll send you a postcard, just so you know we're safe and haven't been maimed by the locals or whatever it is you're worrying about." said Lelouch with a nervous laugh. Suzaku certainly hoped that whatever it was they were doing, maiming would not be a significant part of the experience. Although, knowing Lelouch, it was probably best to prepare for the worst.

"Ah, Lulu, shouldn't we be going now? We don't know how busy the queue at the ticket office will be and we don't want to be late," said Suzaku as he dumped Lelouch's suitcase onto the trolley Mao had brought. He wanted to leave quickly before Mao attempted to engage him in conversation again and he blew their cover.

"Of course" said Lelouch, before turning and curtseying slightly to Mao, surprising Suzaku with the grace with which he pulled off such a feminine gesture. "It was nice meeting you."

"It was nice to meet you too" replied Mao. "Have a safe trip."

As the young 'couple' made their way into the airport building Mao stared after them with an expression of intense concentration.

"You know, she looked really familiar. Are you sure I haven't met her before?"

"Don't be silly Mao" scolded CC "You must be thinking of her father? He used to live with us a while back when you were little. He sometimes helped you with homework. She takes after him."

Mao frowned. "I suppose, if you say so. Wait…. Do you mean Uncle Lulu? I always wondered where he went. Strange that they both use the same name though."

CC sighed. Her son remembered the most inconvenient things sometimes. All she could do was try to stop him thinking too much on them. "Come on Mao, let's get home before she comes back out here and gives me more instructions on how to look after her cats."

* * *

"Lelouch," hissed Suzaku as he wheeled the trolley into the airport. "Do you have to keep your hand on my arm? It's kinda embarrassing."

Lelouch kept his gloved hand resting resolutely on Suzaku's forearm, and a pleasant smile on his face. "It's called _acting_ Suzaku. Body language is very important in how others see you, and it is something that most people can read without thinking. We need to act like we're engaged and in love so as not to arouse suspicion. Any time you want to join in is fine with me."

_Oh? _Thought Suzaku. _Is that a challenge? Well Lelouch, you're not the only one who has been pretending to be someone else all this time. I'll show you just how good my acting skills are._

He allowed his posture to relax, pretending to the world that he was not even slightly unnerved by the way Lelouch's thumb was gently brushing the underside of his arm. As they arrived in front of the ticket office, Suzaku stopped the trolley, and gently took one of Lelouch's hands in his own.

"I'm going to pick up the tickets." He said warmly. "Will you wait here with the trolley?" he asked. Then, as Lelouch nodded in response, he leaned in, as if to plant a kiss on Lelouch's cheek. "How's this for acting" he whispered against Lelouch's skin.

"Not bad," muttered Lelouch, his eyes flashing slightly with irritation. "But I think you can do better."

As Suzaku pulled away, he noticed the faint blush on Lelouch's cheeks. Maybe he could have some fun with this acting business. "The queue's not very long so I should be back soon." He said finally, stepping away from Lelouch.

As he stood in the queue, eyes occasionally glancing over to where Lelouch was staring back at him, he tried to figure out just how he could embarrass Lelouch further. He wasn't sure exactly why he wanted to embarrass the other, but Lelouch's blushing face made him want to make him do it again.

He left the queue, ticket in hand and rejoined Lelouch.

"We've got a while before they start boarding" he said. "Do you want to go get a drink?"

They left their luggage under the watchful eye of an attendant and made their way to a small airport café. As they walked, Suzaku made a point to catch Lelouch's hand and entwine their fingers together affectionately. They ordered their drinks, Suzaku kindly paying for them both, and took their seat at a table.

Suzaku looked across the table, meeting Lelouch's eyes. Behind the warm expression he could make out the faintest trait of a smirk. Suddenly he felt a pang of fear. Lelouch didn't like being beaten. He obviously was planning something.

Trying to ignore his apprehension, Suzaku slowly lifted his cup to his mouth, but barely managed one sip, before he almost spat out what was in his mouth in shock. Something had brushed against his leg.

Fighting to regain his composure, he glanced across at Lelouch again. There was a mocking glint in the other's eyes, and as Lelouch permitted his smirk to widen momentarily, the sensation was repeated. The sensation… it was Lelouch foot brushing against his leg.

Trying to ignore the sensation as Lelouch's foot crept further up his leg; he took another sip of his drink, fighting down his own rising blush. Lelouch seemed perfectly composed, as if he had no idea what his own foot was doing. Suddenly Suzaku shifted his legs, pinning Lelouch foot between his calves, a movement which unbalanced Lelouch, causing him to wobble slightly in his chair, an expression of surprise briefly passing across his features.

"Now now, Lulu" chided Suzaku, with a grin. "Not in public."

Lelouch, who had obviously not been expecting a response from Suzaku, couldn't prevent his face reddening at the suggestiveness of the statement.

They finished their drinks in silence, both wondering what to try next.

They were called for boarding so they retrieved their luggage, and made their way across the airport peacefully, though Lelouch once more rested his hand on Suzaku's arm, to keep up the appearance of a couple. After they had left their luggage in the right place, they joined the line of people waiting to board.

Suzaku decided now was a good a time as any to pull his next stunt. "Oh, by the way Lulu" he started. "I had a word with the lady at the ticket office. She was very nice and managed to change my ticket."

"Change? How?"

"Well, now I can sit with my lovely fiancé on the plane. Isn't that great?" he proclaimed, beaming towards said 'lovely fiancé'.

Suzaku watched a myriad number of expressions travel across Lelouch's face. He could tell the other was a little irritated by him drawing further attention to them by making such a request. Suzaku wasn't bothered, he knew the woman at the ticket office hadn't know that he had booked his ticket by mentioning he was working for the Britannian empress, and she most certainly wouldn't tell her colleagues any specifics, especially not seat numbers. Unfortunately for him, Lelouch was paranoid.

Possibly even more unfortunately for him, Lelouch was also very quick to decide exactly how to retaliate to this. His expression momentarily settled on an evil smirk, before morphing into a loving gaze, fooling all onlookers into thinking he was very pleased about this development.

Lelouch turned so that he was properly face to face with Suzaku, and raised his hands to rest on the other's shoulders. Then stepping a little closer he slid his arms down to rest at Suzaku's elbows. Suzaku tried not to tense too obviously, and managed to raise his own hands to Lelouch's hips, hoping this gentle contact would prevent the other from escalating the situation further. No such luck.

"Oh, how wonderful," said Lelouch meeting Suzaku's eyes across the small gap that currently separated them, and only Suzaku could hear the quiet mockery hidden in the other's tone. "You're so clever to get her to do such a nice thing for us. I'm so glad we can sit together."

Suzaku watched with mild horror, as Lelouch leaned in, closing the small gap between their faces, until their lips met gently. The contact was soft and chaste, Suzaku too much in shock to make any form of protest. After a few brief seconds, Lelouch pulled away, his eyes sparkling with mirth as he celebrated his victory internally.

Suzaku continued staring blankly in front of him, any pretence of acting gone, his brain desperately trying to process what had just happened. _He kissed me! Why did he do that?!_ He thought. _He didn't need to go that far_. _Damn Lelouch!_ A part of his brain though, a quiet part at the back that he didn't really listen to very often, informed him that, actually, it had been rather nice. He mentally kicked that part of his brain into a corner, and recovered himself just in time to notice the queue was moving.

Lelouch took his arm once more, leaning against his side for a few seconds before following Suzaku diligently onto the plane.

* * *

**AN:** Sorry the chapter's a bit short again, but that seemed like a good point to stop I really wasn't expecting _that_ to happen when I started the chapter... I was gonna put a little bit on Nunally's potential successors here… but then those two started their little game… Oh well… means I have more time to work on _those_ characters before I have to write about them… Hope the content made up for its shortness!


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: **Once again, my thanks go out to all my wonderful reviewers (new record on the last chapter!) as well as new favouritee's and alertee's. So thanks to: LawliPop, Trishmeister, darkshadowarchfiend, 13thhourbells, Ex-neko, Kalista Jia, half-goddess-katia, .VanillaRouge's Productions, monty shen, yukidaru, 2stupid, anjuri, GoGothGirl, -w- easy enough, kuroi78, heidi-mayer87, streifer, terracannon876, whoever [insert name here] is…, eternal solace, HitsuxIchi-is-love, RangerInBlack, eMi to mAo 374, piratepenguin666, spirit117, L Lexuran, Serenata Vespera Aureole, MusicAndAnime, BlackIrisRose, Vermillion Lies, Serena the Hikari of Love, Unadorned, Wasabi-sama, Tsuki no Akebono, lost-ai, and Dragonrider4000.

I did a lot of 'research' for this story this week. 'Research' mainly being my excuse for watching a lot of Code Geass… nevertheless, my research helped me figure out three things… none of which are relevant to this chapter… so I'll stop rambling and let you get on an read it.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Code Geass.

* * *

The pair boarded the plane in silence. Lelouch maintaining his grip on Suzaku's hand as the other navigated his return to coherence. He didn't want the dazed and confused brunet to wander off or walk into someone after all. Internally Lelouch was still laughing; the expression on Suzaku's face had been well worth the small blow to his pride.

As much as Lelouch would have loved to continue this game, he figured that they should probably get down to business. He was certain that Suzaku wanted further details on why they were going to Japan. He himself wanted more information on Nunally and her potential successors, but that was less pressing. The matter in Japan was more imminent and should be dealt with first.

Suzaku seemed to finally settle into complete awareness as a flight attendant directed them to their seats. As annoyed as he was with Suzaku for his risky seat swapping manoeuvre, he couldn't deny that that sitting together on the plane would be useful for the exchange of information, and would prevent him from getting bored on the long flight. And, of course, it allowed them to maintain their cover… Maybe he could find some time for a little more of their game after all.

He smirked as they sat, and Suzaku twisted their fingers together. Apparently Suzaku didn't want to surrender yet either. Or perhaps he just figured he needed to keep up their façade regardless.

They sat in silence as the plane filled up and the rest of the passengers settled down. Lelouch watched Suzaku out of the corner of his eye, whilst pretending to look out of the window. He was watching out for any sign that Suzaku was planning retaliation, but his expression remained warm as his eyes roved over the rest of the passengers. Lelouch could tell the other was assessing them for any potential threats. His habits as Nunally's bodyguard had not relaxed even slightly during the period that he'd been away from her, and Lelouch was glad. His protectiveness was an automatic instinct, and Lelouch was glad that Nunally had had such a vigilant guardian during her time as empress. And he wasn't going to ask Suzaku to relax now, he was glad for the protection, and he was certain he was the only one who could spot the focused analysis going on behind that soft expression. He smiled vaguely to himself.

The flight attendants finished their announcements and retreated. Lelouch hadn't paid much attention, preferring to think on how to explain this trip's purpose to Suzaku. So when the plane lurched and started moving forwards he was caught by surprise. His grip tightened on Suzaku's hand, his perfectly manicured nails digging into the other's hand. He wasn't afraid of flying. That would have been a ridiculous concept, especially considering all the time he'd spent piloting Knightmare's. He wasn't afraid. But, maybe, he was just a little apprehensive about returning to Japan, worried for both himself and Suzaku that they would be recognised.

He tried to force himself to relax, but it was too late, Suzaku had noticed. He was surprised when the other made no comment on his tension, but instead allowed his hand to softly caress the one of Lelouch's he was holding. This simple action, perhaps no more than a pretence, helped Lelouch to relax for some reason he would have been unable to explain. He shouldn't worry. It was a proven fact; between the pair of them, there was nothing they could not achieve. He hoped that the situation in Japan would be no different; he had no idea of what troubles might lay ahead.

Lelouch sighed, he wanted to talk to Suzaku now, but there were too many people around. It was a long flight. He would have to wait. Instead he settled for discussion of a more mundane topic. The hotel they would be staying at. Lelouch had called them before they'd left and had managed to get his single room bumped up to a double. He hoped Suzaku wouldn't mind sharing a bed again, but he hadn't been able to think of a good reason why they, in their pretence as a couple, would want separate beds. The less suspicion they aroused from the hotel staff the better.

Suzaku seemed pleased by the news. Obviously he hadn't thought far enough ahead to even consider where he would be staying and was glad Lelouch had provided a solution.

The time passed easily, and eventually, when Lelouch had decided enough of their fellow passengers were asleep, he dropped the doting fiancé act and prepared to broach a more serious topic of conversation.

Suzaku too snapped himself to attention as he noticed the shift in the other's demeanour. He pre-empted Lelouch's conversation shift by providing one of his own.

"I think we should call your sister when we get to Japan. She has a right to know what we're doing after all."

"Ok," agreed Lelouch.

"_Ok?_" Suzaku queried, obviously expecting some kind of resistance.

"It seems logical that we should provide some sort of forewarning of how I, at least, intend to arrive. It means she can prepare in advance for the arrival of a 'female' relative. My arrival won't be so mysterious if people know of it in advance, and therefore I will attract less attention."

"Ah, ok then" Suzaku agreed.

Lelouch didn't mention the other reason he agreed so easily, though he suspected Suzaku knew without him saying. He wanted to hear his sister's voice. It had been entirely too long since they had spoken. Watching her rule through the eyes of the media did not equate to what he wanted to share with her. In all honesty he hadn't truly spoken with her since before she was kidnapped by VV and his father had wiped his memories. One brief five second exchange with Rolo's assistance didn't count, and neither did all those words he'd exchanged with her using a fake persona. He just wanted to speak with her, and apologise sincerely for all the grief she'd gone through due to his actions. He _would_ make it up to her.

He looked up, realising Suzaku was talking again.

"I was thinking that maybe I could ask her to send us some information. Since we might be there for a while, you may as well have a look at who she's considering as her successor."

"… That's a good idea, _if_ she has a trustworthy contact in Japan. I don't know how long we'll be there after all."

"Lulu?" queried Suzaku. "Are you going to tell me exactly what we're doing in Japan?"

"I've told you haven't I? Someone needs my help."

"That's it, that's all you've told me."

Lelouch remained silent.

"You said… that you couldn't tell me who it was, because they didn't know themselves." Suzaku paused, thinking. "Does this have something to do with that dream you had last night?"

Lelouch looked up, meeting Suzaku's eyes sharply. How did he know what he'd been dreaming?

"You were talking in your sleep," said Suzaku, responding to the unspoken question. "I'm right aren't I?"

"Yes," said Lelouch, "I've been dreaming about this person for a while. I say dreaming… it's more than that… I think it's more like they're using my sleeping mind to call for help. And I'm the only person they've found who can hear them."

Suzaku lowered his voice. "Is this a geass thing?"

"Most likely," Lelouch replied. "Last night… when you held me…" he paused blushing slightly. "They knew you were there; it's more than just one way communication."

"I was trying to help" said Suzaku "… it looked like a bad dream."

"Well, it helped. They were very afraid. I think they may be being experimented upon… some of the things they were thinking about… I don't think they're enjoying it much."

"In that case, I hope we can help" said Suzaku earnestly. "Do you know whereabouts in Japan we're going?"

"Not really. I'm hoping that a solution will present itself when we arrive."

Suzaku sighed softly to himself. It was unlike Lelouch not to plan everything in advance right down to the last possible detail and eventuality. He remembered the stringent planning and thousand and one 'what-if' scenarios he'd gone through in preparation for Zero Requiem, as if he couldn't trust Suzaku to handle it if a situation should have arisen. Well... Suzaku had allowed that. Lelouch was planning his own death after all; it seemed fair he should be allowed the control over it he desired. Apparently 'what if I become immortal before I die' hadn't featured in his list though. He supposed Lelouch had done as much planning as he could.

"I guess… I'm hoping that being closer to them…I'll be able to work out where they are. Maybe they'll even be able to tell me more, now they know we're coming."

Lelouch stopped speaking as a flight attendant bustled past, he watched her form warily, as if he were afraid she'd been eavesdropping. It turned out that she was just back here to dim the lighting now that most of the passengers were asleep.

He relaxed as she once again walked out of earshot, and stifled a yawn

"Tired?" asked Suzaku.

"I suppose," replied Lelouch. "I haven't been getting much sleep lately with these dreams… besides, it's been a long day." Constantly keeping your guard up was quite tiring; he could tell Suzaku was starting to feel the strain too.

"You should go to sleep then; I'll stay up and keep an eye on everyone," said Suzaku.

"But don't you need to sleep too?"

"It's ok, I can stay up. It may have been a while, but I have military training remember? Besides, if you go to sleep now, there's a chance we'll have more information by the time the plane lands."

"I suppose" conceded Lelouch, sitting back and trying to get comfortable. "I don't know how anyone manages to sleep in these things."

"You're too skinny, that's why you can't get comfortable." Suzaku leaned over and took Lelouch by the shoulders, turning him slightly, lowering the armrest between them at the same time.

"What are you doing!" hissed Lelouch, not wanting to struggle unless he woke someone up and revealed himself.

"Lean on me," said Suzaku. "That way, you can be comfortable and we can maintain our cover, even while you're asleep."

Lelouch relaxed somewhat, allowing Suzaku to hold him. Maintaining their cover… he had to admit, Suzaku had a point. And he _was_ comfy. And warm, which was nice considering the air in the plane was quite cool. He allowed himself to relax further and for his eyes to drift shut. He felt Suzaku shift slightly, and assumed the other was uncomfortable. Well too bad, he'd volunteered for this so he'd have to put up with it.

With his eyes closed, Lelouch missed the flicker of a smirk on Suzaku's face.

Suzaku waited a few moments until he was certain Lelouch was relaxed. And then he learned forwards, looking down onto Lelouch's face from above. He lowered his head, and brought his lips to gently brush Lelouch's forehead.

Raising his head once more he could see Lelouch glaring up at him, though the other had not moved. He could see the query in his annoyed expression.

"A goodnight kiss, for my darling fiancé Lulu," he murmured before reclining.

He heard Lelouch sigh, and could tell he was rolling his eyes. Suzaku chalked himself up a point. Lelouch had apparently not been expecting that.

* * *

Lelouch awoke as they were announcing the landing. He felt very refreshed; it had been his best night's sleep for a while. He carefully extricated himself from Suzaku's grip. He was irked, but unsurprised, to see that he'd apparently given up on keeping watch, and had fallen asleep himself.

He took a moment to stretch; working out the stiffness in his muscles he'd obtained from sleeping oddly, then shook Suzaku awake.

Suzaku yawned, eyes glancing around as he found his bearings. He looked at Lelouch apologetically, "Sorry, I fell asleep."

"It's ok," said Lelouch, slipping easily into his female persona one more. "No harm done."

"So, did you sleep well?" asked Suzaku, leaning forward to whisper in Lelouch's ear in pretend affection. "Learn anything new?"

"Yes actually," Lelouch whispered back. "I think I know where we're going, and…" He paused momentarily to take a breath, ensuring only Suzaku could hear him, "and we have more than one person to rescue."

**

* * *

**

**AN: **Oooh! So mysterious… I won't ask who Lulu is referring to, because you have absolutely no chance of guessing. Perhaps a better person to ask about would be… who the contact in Japan could be. I was gonna mention some of Nunally's potential heirs this chapter, but I saw the opportunity to give another cast member a cameo appearance…


	11. Chapter 11

**AN:** My thanks to: kalista jia, bubbleheadz, .VanillaRouge's Productions, primaaryet, Unadorned, monty shen, Eternal Solace, Kuroi Fushichou, BlackAngelBlood, heidi-mayer87, neogoki, navidson, -w- easy enough, AngelOfPastPresentAndFuture, kuroi78, piratepenguin666, DJay, L Lexuran, Starburstia, yukidaru, Believe Bridesmaid, GoGothGirl, YellowPolkaDot, nebulia, xxxCodeTsubasa, liankitty, Neko Raiga, 26, Vadraxia, EllipsisAddict, Mizushima13, The Akuma Tenshi, Azinine, Ween-E, and Dragonrider4000.

Oh, I suppose it's safe to tell you that, yes, I have a fair few OCs lined up for this fic. Because otherwise everybody would be old! It has been 50 years after all, and not everyone can be immortal. I need people of a variety of ages. (Take 'variety of ages' how you will, I don't necessarily just mean younger OCs).

I feel I should apologise for this chapter being late, even if it's only a couple of days later than I planned. Real Life got in the way. But I managed to get some work done this week. And I can say leaving you guys hanging over christmas was a good idea; I got a first on one of my exams. (I'm happy so I feel the need to share).

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Code Geass.

* * *

Unfortunately for Suzaku, Lelouch had been unable to give him any further details. This was because as soon as Lelouch had opened his mouth to say more, he'd realised just how many of their fellow passengers were awake, getting ready to disembark, and promptly closed it again. As the plane landed, and the rest of the passengers swarmed around, Suzaku sighed, knowing it would be a while before he was able to get further answers from the other.

They made their way through the airport, retrieving their luggage and managing to get a taxi to their hotel. They maintained their act whilst doing so, but in a more subdued manner than previously. The uncertainty in the upcoming future preyed on their mind, muting the air of competitiveness between them.

As they made their way into the hotel it seem that Suzaku had once again been made responsible for lugging their suitcases around, whilst Lelouch checked them in. Lelouch had in fact glanced mischievously at Suzaku, and then proceeded to chat flirtatiously with the man at the front desk. Suzaku knew that if he questioned Lelouch's motives he would claim he was doing it to be certain his female act was unquestioned by the hotel staff. However Suzaku was pretty certain that Lelouch true motive was to wind him up, and he was annoyed that it was working. He was supposed to be his fiancé after all.

The first thing Lelouch did as the door of their hotel room clicked shut, was to rip off his shoes, with an expression of distaste, and toss them angrily across the room. He then proceeded to march barefoot into the bathroom, complaining loudly about woman and their ridiculously uncomfortable footwear. The door locked behind him and Suzaku sprawled out on the bed, stifling a laugh as Lelouch's ranting continued. It seemed he was beginning to have second thoughts about his cover story. He'd have to get used to it, it would be a while before he could stop.

"Lulu?" he called as Lelouch paused for breath, careful not to address him by his real name in case anyone was listening and he'd raised his voice. "Is it ok if I call your sister now?"

"Sure," replied Lelouch, "it shouldn't be too late over there, and I'll be out in a moment."

Suzaku dug his phone out of his belongings, thinking himself into Zero mode as he listened to the phone ring, preparing himself for the conversation. You never knew who was listening in on phone calls, and he couldn't afford to give himself or Lelouch away.

The phone was answered and Suzaku spoke briefly with one of Nunally's attendants, informing them that he needed to speak with the empress about an important matter. The attendant put the phone down, and went to see if Nunally was available to speak with him.

As Suzaku waited, he watched Lelouch emerge from the bathroom, looking fairly content. He had removed his wig, make up and dress, and was wearing one of the hotel's complementary bathrobes. He had been unsurprised that Lelouch had chosen a fairly opulent hotel for his stay, probably preferring the greater privacy that accompanied it. Lelouch hung the dress up carefully, then perched on the end of the bed, his eyes on the phone in Suzaku's hand. Suzaku smiled at him, feeling more comfortable in Lelouch's presence now the disguise was temporarily gone.

He sat up as he heard a voice on the other end of the phone.

"Zero?" queried Nunally's soft voice.

"Yes, Your Majesty," replied Suzaku, in Zero's sharp tones, rather than his own softer ones. "I have an update on the task you sent me."

"Oh?" said Nunally, anxious to hear the news. She didn't speak further, wanting Suzaku to hurry up and tell her what he'd been doing.

"The person you sent me to find…" Suzaku paused, wanting Nunally to clearly understand he was referring to Lelouch before he finished his sentence. "Your niece Lucinda? I've found her. Would you like to speak with her?"

"You've found her?" queried Nunally, obviously slightly confused by Suzaku referring to a female, but willing to accept what he said for the moment. "Yes, I would like to speak to her."

Suzaku smiled at Lelouch and passed the phone over. Lelouch took the phone and stared at it blankly for a few moments, uncertain of what to say now the moment had arrived.

"Greetings, Your Majesty" he started, reluctantly slipping into his female voice once more.

"Lucinda?" started Nunally, uncertain of how to address her 'niece'.

"Please, Nunally-sama, call me Lulu" replied Lelouch. He was instantly put at ease by the sound of his sister's voice.

Suzaku relaxed as her saw the tension instantly fall from his companion's frame. Lelouch certainly didn't need his supervision for this phone call. He gestured to him that he was going to take a shower and left the room.

Lelouch lay back on the bed as he continued to talk to Nunally, first checking up on her wellbeing, something he continuously worried about, before moving on to discuss more serious issues.

"I won't be able to travel to Britannia for little while Nunally-sama." He said. "I have some business to take care of here in Japan first, but I'm sure I can get it done faster with Zero here to help me."

"That's ok Lulu-chan" said Nunally. Lelouch was sure she was using that honorific specifically to tease him. It hadn't taken long for her to revert to a sisterly manner while conserving with him, even if he was trying to remain formal. "I'm sure what you're doing is necessary, and I don't mind waiting if it's something important."

"Thank you. But I feel bad about not being there for you after you requested my help."

"Its ok-" started Nunally, before Lelouch interrupted her

"It's not." He insisted, feeling guilty about not being there in Britannia with her. "That's why I wanted to make a request."

"A request?"

"Well, since I don't know how long I'll be here in Japan, I thought I might as well tackle two problems at once. I was wondering if there was any chance you could send me some information somehow."

"Information?" queried Nunally, apparently not sure what Lelouch was asking for. Lelouch sighed, wondering how to phrase this so that any suspicious listeners wouldn't know what Nunally had requested his assistance with.

"I've been out of the country for a while, and I've only had limited access to news on the family. I feel that acquainting myself with the family as it presently stands would be a good first step, and I can start whilst I'm here, before tackling the real issue when I arrive. After all, I'll need to know who I'm talking to; I do not wish to accidentally offend someone." There, that was sufficiently ambiguous, but simple enough for Nunally to understand his request.

"Ah… I see" said Nunally. "Let me think…" she paused, considering how to get said information to Japan securely. "Ah I think I know. I can get someone to meet you. You're in Tokyo right?"

"Yes."

"I can send some information to someone in Japan securely enough. And I can get them to meet you or Zero… at Tokyo tower, at 4pm tomorrow?"

"I'm sure we can do that," replied Lelouch, hoping it wouldn't throw out his plans for the next day too much.

"I'm glad. I'm looking forward to seeing you again Lulu" said Nunally, "but I'll let you go now, I'm sure you're busy with whatever business it is that brought you to Japan."

"I'm looking forward to seeing you too Nunally-sama. I've missed you. I'll try to deal with this quickly so that I can see you sooner." replied Lelouch,

The two said their farewells, and Lelouch hung up, feeling happier than he had for a while. His two most important people had both found their way back into his life. He wondered who this contact was. Presumably they would be Japanese, and someone Nunally trusted. He wasn't worried about Nunally choosing someone he knew, he was quite interested to see if his disguise would hold up in front of such a person, before he made him self known at the palace.

In this relaxed state, Lelouch allowed his mind to wander. It chose to settle on the issue of Suzaku and his unnatural youth, rather than anything productive. He was highly curious to find out how Suzaku had managed it, since he knew his geass had not been capable of such an affect; it only worked on the subject's mind, not their body, the same as all other geass he'd come across. It was a question he wanted the answers to as much as Suzaku did, but he had no idea how to find them. At least he had some idea of where to start this search.

The second voice in his dream the night before had been much more informative. He didn't know who this person was, but he suspected, given the situation, that it might be one of the others who held a code. Perhaps they would be able to answer some of his questions. He had trawled through what had remained of his own father's research many years before, during his brief reign as emperor, but had been unable to find out as much as he'd liked.

He sighed despondently, but then sat up in alarm as the bathroom door opened again, and Suzaku re-entered the room. Seeing Suzaku standing there, clad solely in a towel wrapped loosely around his waist, and another draped across his dripping hair, Lelouch couldn't help but feel glad that Suzaku was ageless. It would be a shame to let such a perfect physique go to waste. He watched Suzaku move across the room; admiring the way his muscles moved under his skin as his raised his hands to rub his hair dry with the towel. Lelouch may not have had any to call his own, but that didn't mean he couldn't admire such strength in others.

"Good talk?" asked Suzaku brightly.

"Yes" said Lelouch, meeting Suzaku's eyes briefly, before the other knelt to root through his luggage looking for fresh clothes. "We're supposed to go meet someone tomorrow afternoon at the Tokyo tower to pick up some information."

Lelouch crawled forward, internally debating the issue of whether to remain in just what he was wearing, or whether to get dressed into another set of female clothes. He decided he'd had enough of that for the time being, and would stick with being comfortable. It was unlikely they'd be going out again for a while.

"Did she say who the contact was?" asked Suzaku, happily unaware of the fact that Lelouch was taking advantage of his averted eyes to look at him some more.

"No" said Lelouch absently, as something captured his attention. He reached out, to brush his fingers against a spot on Suzaku's back. "Suzaku?" he queried "this scar…. How did you get it?"

The scar in question looked occupied an area of Suzaku's right shoulder blade, swooping away from his spine and up towards his shoulder, in a sort of upside down lightning bolt. It was faint, the scar just slightly paler than the rest of Suzaku's skin, and Lelouch probably wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't been so close or looking so intently.

"Hmm that? I've had it for ages." said Suzaku, tilting his head, trying to remember. "I'm not too sure. I think it might have been when we were on Kaminejima, although I don't remember getting injured. It could have been later. It's not very often I get a good look at my own back."

Lelouch allowed his finger to trace its way down the pale marking, before realising that perhaps he was overstepping personal space boundaries, and sat up. He couldn't quite place what it was about the mark that seemed familiar. Maybe if the mark were clearer…

He shifted back across the bed, averting his eyes politely as Suzaku dressed.

"I suppose you want to know my plans," he said eventually.

* * *

**AN**: well… I definitely raised more questions than I answered there. No one is to mention Harry Potter in relation to Suzaku's 'scar'… that was just the most apt description I could come up with without giving too much away. Although, given that my reviewers seem to a pretty intelligent bunch, I suspect someone can figure it out. I also dropped a big hint as to who the contact is.


	12. Chapter 12

**AN:** Thanks to: Ween-E, Serena the Hikari of Love, monty shen, kalista jia, yukidaru, bubbleheadz, 2stupid, Nusku, .Vanillarouge's Productions., Bligy, eternal solace, -wendy-, eMi to mAo 374, GoGothGirl, Risu-san, Turtle Kid, missyf33, L Lexuran, KagomeUchiha, realms of fic, Spirit of Fox, dierapunzel, Cher Zephyris, YaoiOkami, hpets, Goku's girl007, , Spirel, heidi-mayer87, purrtygurrl101, and Dragonrider4000.

Well, it's been a long week filled with travelling, and sitting about waiting for public transport in the snow for an hour… and seeing family, and getting my dress sorted for a wedding (I'm a bridesmaid). And that's why this chapter is late. I had it finished last night, but it was two in the morning and I wasn't coherent enough to proof it. I hope its length makes up for its lateness. Oh… if there's any errors in terms of canon (there's a number I think I remembered wrong), blame the fact that my home computer has no way for me to watch the episodes and no functional speakers, so I couldn't check. Anyway, enough rambling: on with the chapter!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Code Geass.

* * *

Kallen Kouzuki had had a good life. She'd had more than her fair share of action in her youth, as a Knightmare pilot for the Black Knights she'd been one of the best, comparable with Britannia's own legendary Knights of Rounds, as well as Zero's favourite and had been the captain of his personal guard. She had fought alongside with him since the beginning.

It was fair to say that her life had quietened considerably from the chaos that it had been during the rebellion. At first the change had been strange to say the least, and she hadn't entirely welcomed it. She'd returned to school, but no longer quite knew what to do with herself, with her free time no longer occupied with terrorist activities. She had wanted to get a shot at normal family life after her mother got out of hospital.

Her mother had recovered shortly after the war, along with many other refrain users. It had seemed as though the peace and the increased potential for forming happy memories had cured them. In fact had been the sudden increase of funding into medicine that had brought about the solution so quickly.

Kallen had liked living with her mother. It was a much more comfortable situation than that which she had endured for most of her youth. Her step-mother had always been uncomfortable to be around, Kallen continuously remaining aware that she was another woman's child. She had abandoned her long ago, following her exposure as a terrorist, returning to the Britannian mainland, wanting nothing more to do with that 'half-blood offspring that had abused her generosity'. After that Kallen had lived full time with the Black Knights, wherever they had been based at the time.

Sometimes she missed those days. She'd always thought of herself as a person suited for action, and it was true that she'd often found herself bored. She was content to reminisce, she would never wish for those times to return. Too much had been given to achieve the peace they had now, the peace that had lasted 50 years, flourishing under the care of those who had lived in war time, who were grateful that the continual fear of that time was gone.

Her own brother Naoto had been one of the first sacrifices, desperately fighting to free his homeland, and protect his younger half-sister. She had taken his place on the front lines, despite knowing that he would have disapproved of her joining the combat. She had helped to achieve his dream.

The final sacrifice had been Lelouch, the original Zero and then the 99th emperor of Britannia, a transformation which had thoroughly shocked those in the know among the Black Knights. At the time when his position as a former prince had been revealed, she had been uncertain what to do. Unmasked, he had spoken coldly to his former underlings, seemingly admitting to all the accusations. She knew Lelouch though, better than all the rest of them, and had tried to take a stand protecting him. He'd pushed her away, calling her a pawn, but then… as she walked away, reaching a safe position, he'd spoken softly, so that only she could hear, telling her to live on. And she knew he had acted in a manner so as to ensure her actions, so that she would not be killed needlessly defending him.

And then the Shinkiro had appeared, its pilot, Lelouch's fake brother. And then… he had vanished.

A whole month had passed before she'd seen him again. On screen. Proclaiming himself the new Emperor of Britannia. Suzaku, traitor to his country that he was, standing at his side, smug expression on his face, announced as the 'Knight of Zero'. She hadn't liked that. His crowning had stung, Suzaku's title had seemed like a joke made at her expense, since she was supposed to be Zero's 'Knight'. She'd noticed his use of geass to subjugate those royals and noblemen present. Still, she'd tried to believe in him, attempted to believe that now that his revenge was dealt with he would now bring about the peace he'd once spoken of.

There had been that meeting at Ashford, where Lelouch had supposedly been about to join Britannia with the U.F.N, though it was a strange location for discussing such an important issue. Kallen had assumed there was a certain nostalgia in his choice, but instead it appeared to be a tactical decision, he knew the area well after all. She had kissed him then, she remembered. Shortly afterwards… everything had gone to pieces. Lelouch had revealed his 'true colours'. That was when her faith in him had failed, a betrayal on a monumental scale. She could not forgive his actions, and gave her all to rid the world of this 'demon king', whom she felt had betrayed her personally.

That had failed. Lelouch had won. She'd been captured and held prisoner, along with many others.

She'd taken it all back that day, the day she had been lined up for public execution. She'd watched as the masked man, this _new_ Zero, she didn't know who, made his appearance, his rapid approach to the emperor. She'd watched, in shock, as he'd speared Lelouch through the chest with his sword.

She'd seen Lelouch's face, recognising the emotion hidden there; she'd known him well, having comforted him in weaker moments in his former existence. His expression had not been one of anger or fear, though he'd tried to disguise it as such. Instead, he had seemed at peace, or as if his plan had succeeded, and he was satisfied.

She had known then. Known that the betrayal, the fear he had spread was part of a greater plan, one that had finally concluded with his death.

She had cried for him as all around the crowd was cheering their saviour, Zero. She did not cheer, though she respected whoever it was that Lelouch had trusted enough to bring his final scheme to fruition.

Many years had passed. She had a family now, long since moved on. She had been a friend to the new empress unexpectedly. It seemed Nunally desired her friendship, shared memories of the student council still lingering, as well as a continued desire on the Empress's part to maintain close ties with Japan, the place where she had spent a large part of her youth.

It seemed Kallen had been unable to give up her ties with Britannia either, having acquired a Britannian husband, though she kept her Japanese name and they both lived in Japan for the most part, in New Tokyo, which had built beside the crater that was all that remained of the old Britannian settlement. Their daughter had married a Japanese man, something Kallen had been happy about, and her grandson, recently turned seven, had spent most of his life in the country. She spent a lot of time with that kid as both of his parents worked full time in the city, but wasn't complaining.

Following completing her education, she'd taken an active role in the reconstruction of the many areas of her country that had been damaged by war, including the reconstruction of its capital. She'd been distantly associated with the political processes in Japan, her ties to the Britannian leader, as well as with the then prime minister and her role in the war had earned her a lot of respect.

Still, she'd been surprised when she'd received the message from the empress and had been emailed several important documents that she was supposed to be delivering to Zero today. Tokyo Tower… it had been a while since she visited that place, and it would be good to take the kid, he was probably old enough now.

* * *

Lelouch and Suzaku had spent the morning in the hotel room, as Lelouch filled him in on a few further details, and played around with some maps of the area, marking some places. And then when they prepared to leave, Lelouch spent half an hour trying to decide what to wear, which amused Suzaku greatly. Eventually he decided on a long pale green skirt, as a white top with a modest neckline so as to avoid giving away his faked female features. He added a pair of white gloves, and fixing up his wig and make-up in the mirror, he seemed finally satisfied. Suzaku noted he was also avoiding the heels today, instead donning a pair of shoes with flat soles.

Suzaku did not need to worry about being unrecognisable when meeting this contact. He merely had to pick up the bag that contained his Zero attire, and find somewhere suitably hidden in which to change.

They set off from the hotel to make their meeting in plenty of time.

* * *

The Tokyo tower that stood today was not the same one of fifty years ago. The construction had been seriously damaged in Britannia's initial invasion of the country, and the final blow had been dealt with the explosion of Freya. Though it was outside of the settlement, it had received too much damage, and what had remained had been removed. In its place was the new Tokyo Tower.

It stood in the centre of an area of parkland, a plinth of white marble reaching into the sky, about 50 meters in height with a broad base. About three quarters of this plinth was circled by walls of similar material, but with occasional bronze insets depicting either scenes of the Battle of Tokyo, or of the city that had stood there before. On these walls, were the names of the 25 million who had been killed in the FREYA blast, Britannian and Japanese alike. The names covered every square inch of all sides of the walls, which were not small, except for the bronze insets. The sheer number of names was overwhelming, and the atmosphere was subdued, as with any memorial of this type. On the fourth side there was a viewing point which overlooked the crater, shocking in its size.

Neither Suzaku nor Lelouch had been to this memorial before. Suzaku because he had been occupied full time with being Zero, and had only ever been to Japan with the empress on official business. In Lelouch's case this was the first time he'd been back to the country, so he hadn't visited either. They were quite apprehensive about visiting. Lelouch was certain that his sister had picked the location on purpose, so as to give them the opportunity, or rather the obligation, to visit. She could be quite devious when given the chance.

Even with the small detour that they took before arriving at the park so that Suzaku could change into his Zero attire, they still arrived early. The park was mostly deserted, its location on the outskirts of the city meant that few people passed through, and it gained few visitors on weekdays.

Lelouch had noticed that the version of Zero's outfit that Suzaku was wearing was a little different to his original design. Well, it obviously wasn't going to be the same outfit considering that one was fifty years old, but the style had changed somewhat. The mask was still the same, and it still had a fairly high collar, but it wasn't as pronounced. The cape wasn't quite so dramatic either, and the design of the suit had changed, fitting Suzaku's more built frame better. The colour scheme had been toned down as well, and there was much less of the gold and no red. The mask was essentially the same though. The muted design was more appropriate for the more servile Zero as opposed to the flashy terrorist of the past. It didn't attract quite so much attention either.

They remained silent as they walked through the park, keeping theirs eyes on the monument before them. The general atmosphere of this place was that of silence, even the birds seemed to sense the need for a sombre atmosphere. And yet, they could hear the sound of a child in the distance.

When they approached, they first walked around the outside, taking in the sight of all those names, people that had been killed in a battle they had fought in, the people whose death they, between them had caused. It was hard not to feel the sense of oppressing guilt, it sat heavily in their minds. All these people… whole families utterly destroyed. Not even the knowledge of the ongoing peace that was the final result of all the struggling, could alleviate the sensation.

As they finally turned and passed under an archway in to the centre of the monument, their eyes turned upward simultaneously, gazing to the top of the tower from the base. The area enclosed by the walls was not small, the area required to fit in all the names necessitated it. The scale of the area humbled them, making the pair of them feel small and insignificant.

After a few moments of motionless contemplation, they moved wordlessly around the base of the tower, to reach the viewing space. Since they were here, they needed to see the crater.

The sight that met them when they looked out caused their tense demeanours to soften slightly.

Standing at the edge of the viewing point was a young boy, and standing behind him there was an older lady. They were not peering down into the crater, but instead were looking up into the sky. There, seemingly hovering over the centre of the crater was a kite. The design on the kite was easy to recognise, despite its distance, given its familiarity. It was a Knightmare Frame, Energy Wings extended, and not just any Knightmare, but the very familiar Guren SEITEN, a nostalgic sight for both of them.

After a few brief moments the woman noticed their presence, and turned to face them. She acknowledged the presence of Zero, casting her eyes briefly over Lelouch, before beginning to move towards them. Lelouch spotted the folder under her arm; this was their contact then.

As she moved closer, and Lelouch got a better look at her face, he had to be careful not to let his eyes widen in shock. Though everything else about her had changed, due to the inevitable process of aging, her face was generally the same, and her vibrant blue eyes shone as brilliantly as they always had. It was Kallen.

Of all the people Nunally could have sent, it would have to be the one most likely to see through his disguise. Although, knowing Kallen, she probably wouldn't be too angry with him if she did. She was one of the few people he had expected to see the true meaning in his death, and he wouldn't have wanted it otherwise. She deserved to know the truth.

She stopped before them and bowed slightly. "Zero-sama," she greeted, using Japanese honorifics, as this _was_ Japan.

Suzaku, bowed back. "Kouzuki-san" he responded. They'd obviously encountered each other formally before now, if Suzaku volunteered her name freely. He straightened and faced Kallen again, gesturing to Lelouch. "This is Miss Lucinda Lamperouge, a relative of the Empress."

Lelouch curtseyed, and Suzaku smiled at the unexpected action, his face safely unreadable. "It's a pleasure to meet you Kouzuki-san. I've heard many stories about you from Nunally."

"She is your great aunt, is that right?" queried Kallen. Lelouch nodded. "She's not mentioned you before, but apparently this is for you." She handed over the file which Lelouch accepted gratefully, thanking Kallen politely for the trouble of delivering it.

Kallen said it had been no problem, and it had been a nice opportunity for her to bring her grandson to this place. It was an important part of his family's history after all, and she had liked giving him a first hand account of the battle, and he had liked hearing it.

It was at that moment that said grandchild materialised at their feet, having reeled in his kite so that he could come see the new people. He passed his kite to Kallen who now had free hands, and then stepped forwards, boldly staring at Suzaku, not seeming at all intimidated.

"You," said the boy. "You're Zero. Nana Kallen was saying how she fought with you in that fight."

"I am Zero." said Suzaku, "but I'm afraid that Zero was my predecessor." Suzaku obviously couldn't bring himself to lie to the child. Of course he also neglected to mention that he had fought Kallen in that battle.

"Can I see your mask?" asked the boy.

"Shin-chan!" scolded Kallen. "Don't you know that Zero never takes his mask off. He has to keep his identity secret."

"I know that," said the boy, as if his meaning were the most obvious in the world. "I just wanna see it up close."

Suzaku humoured the child and knelt down, bringing himself to eye level. The boy stared for a moment in awe, and then reached out a hand and touched the mask, then snatched back his hand, just in case. Lelouch smiled. The kid seemed to favour Kallen, at least in his attitude to Zero.

As Suzaku stood, Kallen apologised for her grandson's behaviour. And then farewells were said, and the pair left again. They would have liked to have stayed longer, but they had things to do, Lelouch particularly wanting to get back so he take a look at what Nunally had sent him.

Kallen watched the pair leave, a smile on her face and then she turned to her grandson.

"That man is my hero," she informed him.

The kid smiled up at her, and started babbling on about how awesome Zero was, after all, he'd been told the stories that were public knowledge, and this didn't included the fact that the original Zero had become the demon emperor, and she wasn't going to tell him otherwise.

She also wasn't going to tell him that she hadn't been referring to Zero. Well… not that Zero anyway.

* * *

AN: Yes, the contact was Kallen, as many of you guessed. The hint in the last chapter was the meeting as Tokyo tower at four. This was where Zero asked her to go in the third or fourth episode. I don't know if she'll be turning up again, but it was nice to write her. I hope you didn't mind that she kind of dominated the chapter. And no chapter next week, I really need to not get distracted from work for a bit.


	13. Chapter 13

AN: Wow… I'm real sorry I left you guys hanging so long. I had a really busy Easter break, with much travelling and seeing friends. And Project work. Lots and lots of project work. But that's dealt with now. And then I took another two weeks for revision and exams. And then I had an essay to write, handed in today. Next week I have my finals and the week after that I need to do a presentation for my project. It's my last term at uni, and it's hectic. Thanks for being patient with me, but I feel guilty about writing this when I should be working. This is also the reason why no-one got review replies, for which I feel very guilty. I'm sorry, I love you all really!

Thanks go out to all 84 people it's owed to since the last update: Neko Raiga, kalista jia, kuroi78, Nusku, Citrus Sunscreen, heidi-mayer87, KrisMahai, YaoiOkami, hpets, DarkKitsune18, eMi to mAo 374, xxxCodeTsubasa, Turtle Kid, Eternal Solace, Serena the Hikari of Love, Candelabra, Spunglass, nequam-tenshi, kitten-dreamer, bubbleheadz, xYukii, -w- easy enough, Crissinmon, L Lexuran, Khaneis, KarimaTinCan, SaCyner, xxlostdreamerxz, PrincessAyla1994, papereye, Destiny Gamer, Lavilicious, Catlady172, megumi natsuyama, xxBlackWolf, Meitle, , Aria DC al Fine, kira-chan9, Xellacard, Ice Silverwind, Blitzkrieg8180, Diana Prince, Ekala, Chibis Unleashed, redscarlet02, La Luna Negra, queenstrudel, sun-sun kat, Neriel Vielefield, Chibi Tsuki Hikari, Wolfram003, Caim soul eater, Lady-Amaltea, SenshiCrystal, Sear, xxSirexx, deksab, Star Jinin, Spirel, T.D. Sugoi, Xhadow Kiss, Yamiro, zeppelin13, Miyao-chan, FoenFyre, ARandomWeirdo, Battaglia, Awesomenesslyangelic, Alexandria Jaganshi, 7PhoenixAshes, Mog2, Yukirimi, demonturtle, Regal-Toothpick., duuude, Chakuro-chan, Wynster McG, Moonlit Aura, Ed Chandor, LoveOfMyLifeIs, LeaNicolaie, and Dragonrider4000 (thanks for understanding my need to work rather than write).

… I think that's everyone.

Also I apologise for any errors in this chapter. I wrote it almost entirely with the new toy I got for my birthday, and the text conversion software was not the greatest at reading my handwriting. I think I fixed it all as I went along though.

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Code Geass. I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint after all that wait, but I fear it will… the more exciting stuff is in the next one. Sorry for the long AN.

* * *

"So, where are we going?" asked Suzaku, the morning after their visit to the monument. Lelouch had neglected to inform him of their plans the evening before, despite apparently having returned from the meeting with Kallen inspired. He claimed to 'know' where to find the mystery individuals they were looking for.

When they'd returned Lelouch had settled down to read through the files he'd received from Kallen, and amidst mutterings of the names of the nieces and nephews he'd never met, he'd casually informed Suzaku that tomorrow's mission 'might be dangerous' and that 'it would be a good idea if they were armed'.

Suzaku had stared at him for a good two minutes due to the carefree manner of the suggestion, before opening his suitcase, digging his way past the Zero cloak he'd put away earlier and, opening a hidden compartment at the bottom of the case, he'd pulled out two small, standard issue Britannian issue guns.

Lelouch made no query as to how he'd managed to travel with the weapons; he merely assumed the case's design followed his own original version, which made the contents undetectable, unless opened. Instead he'd merely commended him on his forethought, and suggested he continue his streak of good planning, by arranging them a vehicle to travel in the next day.

Suzaku had sighed, and then wandered off to ask the reception for the numbers of some local car hire companies.

Lelouch hadn't told him where they were going the night before, and he'd ignored Suzaku's query in favour of going through his own suitcase searching for anything useful.

Lelouch had toned down the female attire today, the skirts and dresses being deemed 'impractical'. Instead he was wearing jeans and a dark jacket and boots with some more practical heels, for which he was grateful for. With wig, make-up, and fake breasts still in place he looked no less feminine, though Suzaku wisely kept his mouth shut about that fact, even if he had laughed when Lelouch had taken the gun Suzaku had given him and stored it in a handbag. Even with the excuse that 'this outfit has no pockets', he thought Lelouch was still overdoing the female act a little.

His amusement may or may not have had something to do with the fact that Lelouch was still withholding information about their destination an hour after his question. Suzaku still had no clue where they were going, probably not a good thing, since Lelouch had nominated him driver, and was forcing Suzaku to follow his directions, one step at a time. As a result several near accidents had only just been avoided thanks to Suzaku's excellent reflexes. Not that Suzaku hadn't picked up a few clues as to where they were headed. Initially the route they were following lead them in more or less the same direction as the day before, towards the memorial, but eventually Lelouch directed him away from there and further around the crater, in the direction of Mt, Fuji.

Suzaku's confusion was not lessened when Lelouch instructed him to stop at the end of a dirt road which led nowhere. He turned to look at Lelouch in order to express his confusion, but hesitated at the expression of concentration on his friend's face.

"We're close," said Lelouch, "I can feel it."

As much as Suzaku wanted to trust Lelouch's judgment, he couldn't 'feel it', and thus felt the need to question.

"You can 'feel' it? Lelouch, we're in the middle of nowhere, there's nothing around here except a few fields and some trees..."

"No… there's definitely somebody with a code somewhere around here… we can sense each other… though this is the first time I've experienced it, But CC was able to detect VV in the past. I think they're underground."

Suzaku wanted to question how exactly Lelouch expected them to get underground, but was unable to. Lelouch had already got out of the car and was heading for a gap in a hedge. He sighed, conceding to Lelouch's whim, and followed him, making sure their hire car was secured.

The field Lelouch was currently crossing contained, of all things, sunflowers, bringing back yet more childhood remembrances for Suzaku. A narrow public footpath set out from the gap in the hedge, in the direction of a cluster of trees, which stood in the middle of the field without apparent reason. Suzaku jogged along the path, catching up with Lelouch.

"So, how are you planning on getting us underground?" he asked.

"Pretty easily. That cluster of trees marks the entrance to a service access to the network of underground tunnels that are the remains of the original Japanese transport network, as well as the later Britannian constructions. Access points this far out… although this isn't actually that far away from the original city, were often in large fields. They had to leave an area around the access point free of crops, and make sure there were no problems getting to it. So they generally allowed trees to grow around them. So, in those trees we'll find a way to get underground."

"How do you know that?" asked Suzaku, confused at the obscure information Lelouch was providing him with.

Lelouch mumbled something about making a dramatic entrance and breaking into the headquarters of the Kyoto group early on in his time as Zero.

Suzaku nodded, deciding he didn't actually want to know further details of that occasion. Lelouch would probably bring out the theatrical hand gestures. He knew from personal experience what Lelouch 'dramatic entrances' were like.

As it happened, when they did reach the trees, they found, somewhat concealed by plant life, a small metal hatch on the ground. As punishment for his apparent 'doubt' in Lelouch, Lelouch made Suzaku clear the overgrowth from the hatch before he deigned to kneel down and pick the highly unsecure and pretty old padlock that prevented passerby's from entering, with the small kit he'd thought to bring with him. He didn't really see quite why he'd had to do that, since Lelouch was wearing gloves anyway, but decided that it was perhaps best not to argue with him, it hadn't done him any good so far after all.

In fact, he pre-empted what Lelouch's next request would likely have been, by entering the hatch first of his own accord. After all, if there was someone or something down there planning on leaping out and attacking them, Suzaku knew he had a much better chance of dealing with it than Lelouch.

As it happened, there was nothing waiting to pounce at the bottom, but Suzaku had been able to give warning of a couple of rungs that had rusted through and were unusable. The bottom of the shaft was considerably better maintained, and gave Suzaku his first reliable reason as to why the person they were looking for might be here. In addition to the unexpected lighting which lined the ceiling, the underground corridor was clean, and modern, rather than dark and dank, and it smelled faintly of antiseptic, reminding Suzaku somewhat of hospital corridors.

Apparently this area was in use, and not for its original purpose.

Lelouch didn't seem fazed by the _occupied_ nature of the area at the bottom of the shaft. But then, he was the one that was having the unusual dreams, and the strange 'feeling' at this being the right place, so he probably wasn't surprised that he was right. He did however smirk at Suzaku before grabbing his arm and dragging him down the corridor. Suzaku didn't bother asking how Lelouch knew which way they needed to go.

He did however wonder why Lelouch seemed so confident in wandering around what presumably counted as enemy territory. This was a 'rescue' mission after all. He questioned this when they arrived at an intersection and Lelouch momentarily hesitated, debating the direction.

Lelouch had shushed him and then quickly explained that given the times he'd had dreams he'd worked out when this place was actually in use by the staff, He'd calculated that there probably wouldn't be very many people here for at least another hour. Even so, when they passed by a cloakroom he'd slipped in and taken a couple of white coats; though disguises probably wouldn't be very effective, this apparently being a small operation, with very few people involved. It might mean that any security they came across wouldn't think much of them from a distance, and would give them cause to hesitate up close. Lelouch had transferred the contents of his handbag to pockets, given that the coat was concealing enough, and they would be easier to get at that way.

Suzaku tried to maintain a lack of paranoia as he followed Lelouch down another corridor and then a stairwell to the next level down. They'd seen no people so far, and the silence was eerie. It wasn't as if people knew they were coming. What was a cause of worry was the fact that Lelouch had had to hack into a system to get them thorough a password secured door. Lelouch had managed to get them through in less than five minutes, without apparent fuss, but Suzaku couldn't help suspecting that somewhere a silent alarm was going off.

Once they were through the door, Lelouch informed him that they were very close, and at pointed at one of the doorways that lined this hallway. The atmosphere down here was less like a hospital and more like a prison, it was not as clean, the lighting was dimmer; and the corridor was narrower than on the upper level. Suzaku couldn't help but notice the security camera watching them as they approached the door.

The door was made of thick steel and a red light glowed above it ominously. Lelouch fiddled around with the keypad. Suddenly the door whooshed open, catching Suzaku by surprise as he'd been staring down the way they'd entered, expecting security guards to come rushing after them at any moment.

As Lelouch stepped calmly into the room beyond, Suzaku lingered in the doorway, fingertips grazing his weapon, remaining alert.

The room's occupant didn't bother looking up as Lelouch entered; instead remained on the bed of the cell, seemingly asleep. Lelouch approached cautiously, raising his hand to shake the man awake. The man appeared to be in his late 30s, with dark brown hair and a short straggly beard which suggested it hadn't been cut in a few months.

As Lelouch touched his shoulder, the man jerked upright, standing quickly and pinning Lelouch by the shoulders to the wall behind him, the chain that bound his wrists together jingling as he did so.

Suzaku immediately raised his weapon, pointing it at the man in alarm, but lowered it somewhat when Lelouch made a dismissive gesture. Lelouch met the man's eyes calmly, waiting for recognition to set in. This man was a code bearer; he could sense it, as well as see the bird like sigil glowing faintly from where it nested, draped across the man's collarbone. Lelouch's own code mark prickled faintly on his palm as if in greeting. After a few moments had passed, the man relaxed, nodding in recognition as he stepped away from Lelouch.

"You are the new one. LL," said the man, taking in Lelouch's appearance. "You're a lot more… well… _female_ than I was expecting."

Lelouch paused, not letting his expression slide into one of annoyance, before replying with an air of distaste. "This? This is just a disguise. And don't call me that. It's Lelouch. … or Lulu will suffice in this outfit."

The man smiled softly. "I'm EE, but if we're not using those names, you can call me Bill."

"Look… we don't really have time for introductions now," said Lelouch as he noticed Suzaku twitching anxiously in the doorway. "You're not the main reason I'm here; can you tell me where to find…" he faltered as he realized that he didn't really know who he was looking for or how to begin describing them.

"I know… you're here for _him_. He told me someone was coming; perhaps you'll be able to help him more than I have."

Lelouch hoped so too… if only to improve the quality of his sleep.

"His cell's down the hall on the left" said 'Bill'. "It's the only other room with a light. There aren't as many of us here they intended."

Lelouch didn't wait to find out who 'they' were. There would be time for that later when everyone was safe. Or failing that, he was sure somebody would let something slip should they be caught.

"Do something about his handcuffs," he said, tossing the small pouch which contained the lock picking equipment to Suzaku as he left the room. He made his way further down the corridor and located the right room, easily able to convince the door to open now that he knew what he was doing.

The door slid open, and the gloomy interior of the room beyond was exactly as he remembered from his dreams. He shifted to let more of the light from the corridor seep in, and let his eyes adjust as the scoped the room.

With a sudden pang of recognition, his eyes met those of the person sitting on the bed.

_How? He's supposed to be dead?_

* * *

AN: I'm not evil... though I did consider putting in the next line and letting you all know who it was… but since I've kept you waiting for two months (sorry again), I figured a week or two more won't make much difference.

Next chapter might be next week, or it might be the week after, it depends on how much work I need to do for my presentation, and how badly my finals go.

A final request: there's a poll on my profile. And also a very vague description for a new code geass story I'm planning to start after all my exam stuff is dealt with, for which I need title suggestions. Any response on either of those fronts is welcome.


	14. Chapter 14

**AN:** Many intelligent guesses… not all of them correct, but intelligent nonetheless. Those of you who were right, give yourself a pat on the back.

Thanks to: Nusku, realityfling18, L Lexuran, Sesshoumarurin, piratepenguin666, Candelabra, yukidaru, Mizu1411, Turtle Kid, ttttai, WinButler, Shadow Vanilla, ochibi-chwan, PlasticPaperCut, CandyBar, cyberpielover, hpets, HyperSilver, Evve the great, mystic luna mage, iKraz, jarta, Spartan Eragon, shadowXxxnightfoxx, wayfarer-redemption, DrewMayShipper, Eternal Solace, souna no hime, kuroi78, Hey Those Beats, Roz-chan, bubbleheadz, Shadowgal ANBU, Diana Prince, fushigimai, Asami-chan37, Tokei, xXRainbow-roseXx, Neko Roxas, Steve225, Pinfeathers, SisterFreaks, Alfader, manganime-hime-sama, Kai, backlash, MindFuel, RedGoldX3, Lickumz, Obsessive Child, KokoroNoKage, Azule228 and Dragonrider4000.

Special thanks to those of you who wished me luck. It worked! I think I was very lucky with my finals. _And_ with my project oral. … Any other delays with this chapter are entirely to be blamed on my Sims.

This chapter is dedicated to GoGothGirl… even if she's not back yet; she deserves it for putting up with my teasing about this for so long.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Code Geass. Enjoy the chapter.

* * *

Lelouch's thoughts, always in perpetual motion, froze as those violet eyes, so familiar, met his own.

"Rolo?"

It was a query. Though there was no doubt in his mind that the boy before him was the fake brother of before. Despite the longer unkempt hair; that face, those eyes, the shadows still lingering beneath them as they had when the boy had lain in his arms, taking his final breath. The question was _how_. Lelouch could come up with no theory. The boy had _died_, giving his own life to save the 'brother' whom he loved, even if said 'brother' had not particularly cared for him up to that point, had lied to him ceaselessly, had willingly used his loyalty to his own ends. Lelouch had felt guilty at the boy's death, accepting him as, perhaps, the younger brother he'd never had, realising that though he would never replace Nunally, he would perhaps be better than the rest of his brothers. He was certainly better than Schniezel.

The boy in the cell did not respond to his name, instead watched Lelouch fearfully, without any sign of recognition, as if he'd never seen Lelouch before, a degree of non-recognition not even explainable by his attire. Lelouch thought back to his dreams… The voice had asked _'Who am I'._ Perhaps… maybe he really _didn'_t remember who he was, and thus wouldn't recognise Lelouch? There was no time to think about this now; he was more concerned about just how Rolo was alive. He had _buried _him after all. But… it would take too long, and he could sense Suzaku's worried gaze, pressuring him to hurry up. He needed to get Rolo to understand who he was and do it quickly.

He stepped into the cell, lowering his arms, spreading his hands to show he was unarmed, whilst at the same softening his expression.

"It's ok," he started, moving closer slowly. "It's me… I'm the one you've been talking to. I came to help…"

The boy seemed to understand him. He stood, opening his mouth hesitantly, as if to speak, but then stepped forward instead. He reached up a hand to touch Lelouch's face, causing Lelouch's skin to tingle faintly. Then he smiled and nodded, apparently accepting that Lelouch was who he claimed to be.

Lelouch sighed in relief, puzzled by the boy's silence, but deeming part of the greater mystery. Rather than wasting further time, he reached to grab his hand. For some reason, even though he knew Rolo had once been a ruthless assassin, like this he seemed to have some sort of childlike innocence, and he felt protective. The boy gripped his gloved hand tightly and followed him from the room.

As they emerged in the corridor, Suzaku's tense frame heaved a sigh of relief, the sight of Lelouch holding the hand of the boy, their target, helped to ease some of the stress of the situation, and was also somewhat endearing. His relief rapidly turned to confusion when they got close enough to see the boy's face. He stared in disbelief for a few seconds, before turning to Lelouch. Suzaku hadn't known Rolo to the same degree as Lelouch, but they had worked together briefly, monitoring Lelouch for suspicious behaviour, and they had met a few times after Lelouch had resumed his activities as Zero. The boy hadn't seemed to like him very much.

"Lelouch, is this…?"

"I think so." replied Lelouch. "But can we discuss this later when we have reached the relative safety of somewhere that _isn't_ a mysterious underground facility?"

That was all Suzaku needed to hear. Lelouch didn't have a clue what was going on either, so it was ok. For now he just needed to get everyone out to safety.

"Let's go," he said, readying his weapon, and turning to walk swiftly along the corridor back the way they'd come in

EE glanced between them, and smiled encouragingly at the young boy who was clinging to Lelouch, offering him his other hand as they made their way along the corridor since he seemed to need the reassurance. Suzaku was trying to make sure they moved quickly, but carefully and quietly.

In fact, it wasn't until they'd reached the top of the stairs and were halfway along the maze of corridors that lead to their exit when the alarm went off. Suzaku cursed as the loud sound started reverberating through the corridors and a light on the ceiling started flashing. There were cameras all over the facility; it wouldn't take long for security to get to them.

He motioned for everyone to hurry up, and they started running, poor Lelouch not looking too happy about this, he was practically being towed by the other two thanks to his notoriously poor running ability, even the emaciated looking Rolo was able to keep up better than him.

Suddenly they rounded a corner and ran practically straight into a pair of men in outfits with 'SECURITY' emblazoned across them. Both the men and the group of escapees stared at each other in surprise for a few moments before they snapped to alertness and the guards raised their weapons.

Unfortunately for them, Suzaku was slightly faster in response and had leapt, quite literally, into action before they had been able to shoot, soaring through the air and spin-kicking the weapons from their hands, before delivering swift blows to each of their heads, rendering them unconscious. The pair hadn't had a chance to react.

EE looked impressed. Lelouch wasn't too surprised that Suzaku was as fit as ever, and was pleased that he hadn't let his physical abilities lax over time; he needed them to protect his sister. Rather than congratulating Suzaku on his prowess at taking down the security, he chose the more practical approach.

"We need to move. Those probably weren't the only guards, and next time we might not catch them by surprise."

The four of them set off again, this time being slightly more cautious when turning corners. They didn't want to be caught by surprise either. They were almost at the exit when they heard the sound of pounding feet behind them. Turning the final corner Lelouch let go of Rolo's hand, and pointed at the rusty ladder they'd come down.

"Up there, hurry." He said, wanting to get Rolo out first, since that was what he was here for. The boy seemed to understand the urgency and hurried forward, their other rescuee close behind him offering encouragement.

Rolo was at ceiling level, and EE had set his first foot on the bottom rung when the guards rounded the corner, their weapons raised ready.

"Freeze!" shouted one of them, pointing his weapon at the boy on the ladder.

Rolo stopped, staring at the guards in panic. EE was below him looking uncertain. Suzaku... well Lelouch wasn't sure but it seemed he was fighting that geass again, as if he would be shot and was trying to get away but also wanted to stay to protect the others. He didn't think Suzaku was going to be able to take the guards down with a spinning kick this time. His mind whirled with plans. If only he still had his geass this would be simple. But… he wasn't going to let any of them be captured. Because judging by the nature of this facility, they'd want him, a code-bearer, and Suzaku, who'd lived aging-free for far longer than he should have, for whatever nefarious activities they conducted here.

"Move!'' Lelouch shouted at the pair on the ladder and they started climbing. The guards switched their weapons to him.

"Oh no you don't," said one, "You'll all stop if you don't want someone to die."

Lelouch noticed Suzaku was fumbling with his weapon, which he'd pocketed so he could run faster. The guards spotted this slight shift in his attention, and responded.

BANG!

It happened quickly. Lelouch had spotted the guards switch their attention and had quickly, unthinkingly, moved to intercept the bullet aimed at Suzaku. Suzaku heard the shot, and instantly his solider instincts kicked in, snapping him out of his daze, and the three guards were taken down by his own weapon before they'd even processed who they'd hit.

Lelouch stood there, staring down at his chest, blood oozing freely from the bullet wound. It looked fatal. He looked up, meeting Suzaku's horrified gaze.

"Get me out of here, you idiot," he managed weakly, before his injury kicked in and he collapsed to the floor.

Suzaku took a moment to process the scene. Lelouch had taken a bullet aimed at him. He'd wounded, possibly killed, three men. Lelouch was unconscious, bleeding to death from a bullet wound. But Lelouch had recovered from a similar wound before. Pocketing his weapon, Suzaku scooped up the limp form of his friend, and draped him over his shoulder. He began to climb the ladder, awkward as it was to manage holding onto Lelouch securely.

At the top of the ladder his burden was relieved by EE, and he was able to emerge, shutting and barring the hatch behind him.

He turned to meet the eyes of the code-holder supporting Lelouch. Lelouch was pale, his skin and clothes bloodstained, but it looked like he wasn't bleeding as much.

"He'll be ok," said the man, "it'll be a while before he wakes up though."

Suzaku nodded, and took Lelouch back. There was no need for three of them to be covered in Lelouch's blood; his own clothes were not looking pretty.

"That won't deter them long," he said. "The car's that way," he indicated with a nod of the head.

Rolo, who'd been sitting on the ground watching his rescuer's unconscious form fearfully, stood and followed them to the car.

''Can you drive?'' Suzaku asked the immortal suddenly as he carried Lelouch across the field.

"I have some experience with cars, even if it's been a while since I was able to drive one."

Shifting Lelouch slightly so he could get at his pocket, he handed the keys to the man. "Take us away from here. We need to put some space between us and those people."

Leaving him to familiarize himself with the controls, Suzaku carefully manhandled Lelouch's body into the backseat, and told Rolo to sit in the front. He climbed into the back and sat with Lelouch's head in his lap. Lelouch may be able to recover, but it didn't stop Suzaku from worrying about him.

He ran his fingers through Lelouch's hair absently. In the rear-view mirror he watched the reflection of the boy in the front seat as his eyes danced about, drinking in all the sights around them, and their driver as he battled with the car. It was obvious that he hadn't driven for a long while, and many of the new controls on the car were alien to him. Suzaku wondered how long they'd been locked up below ground.

He tried not to think about the lifeless form he was cradling, believing fervently that it wouldn't last. If a sword through the heart wouldn't kill him, then a bullet wouldn't either. Instead he offered vague directions, not back towards town; he didn't want to lead their pursuers to where they were staying, but instead, further around the crater. He needed to check something before it was safe to take them back.

He was distracted from these thoughts when the form in his lap gasped. He looked down at Lelouch's face, glad to see the colour returning, and his chest rising and falling as his breathing restarted. After a few moments, his eyes opened, gazing blankly for a few moments before they focused on Suzaku's face. Meeting Suzaku's concerned gaze, Lelouch smiled warmly and his body relaxed. He curled in closer and his eyes shut again. He needed a bit more sleep before he was properly healed.

Suzaku smiled at his sleeping friend. Lelouch could be quite cute when he smiled properly. He was glad he was ok.


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: **Again, I'm sorry for the longish gap between updates. I've spent most of the last two weeks at home, and it's hard to write there, though I did finish and post the first chapter of my new CG story if you haven't seen it already. I plan to have lots of fun with it. Though, this is the beginning of my last week at uni, so I suppose I'll have to get used to living at home until I achieve employment. Thanks to all readers, alertees, favoritee's and reviewers as usual. I have no time to list you all here since I'm busy; it seems like a terms worth of social life is being crammed into one weekend before we all leave. I will get to review replying when I get a chance though.

I hope you enjoy the chapter, even if I'm not hugely pleased with it.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Code Geass.

* * *

Smiling down at his sleeping friend, Suzaku directed the immortal in the front seat to pull into the small car park where a few other cars were parked, though there were no other people around. The car was undistinguished enough to be overlooked by any potential followers. EE looked round confusedly when Suzaku told him to turn off the engine.

"We've stopped because I want to make sure we can safely go back to our hotel without being followed. Do you know if they put any tracking devices on you?"

"Ah… yes," responded EE, "getting rid of _that_ may be a good idea. I don't really want them catching up with me again."

"_Again?"_

"Well… I'm not sure how long ago it was, years and years ago though, but not much before the kid here turned up. There was an incident at the place where I was being held. I'm not sure what was going on there, but there were lots of people there with geass, and many of them were children, some sort of experimental group. I was held at a deeper level, an even bigger secret than they were. Not many people had clearance enough to know that I was there. The existence of the facility was discovered by some terrorist group I believe, but I don't really know who or why. They attacked the base. I think all of the people with geass, certainly all of the children, were killed in that attack. It was terrible… they weren't there of their own choice. They were mostly war orphans I think. But there was so much chaos, I managed to get away.

"They found me a month later; I was on my way to Europe in a car I'd picked up somewhere. I'd been underground a long time, I didn't trust air travel, it was a brand new technology when I'd last been free. Maybe if I had I might have got further and they wouldn't have caught up with me. But yes… they must have given me some form of tracking device; otherwise they wouldn't have found me. I was careful not to leave a trail."

"Whereabouts do you think it is? It'll be fixed in place, somewhere just under the skin."

"I would assume it's here somewhere," said EE leaning forward and indicating an area of his back around his left shoulder blade. "It's hard to get at, so there's no way I could remove it myself. Besides that, I remember when they brought me back in, that was the first thing they did. I think they'd been having issues with it, which is why it took them that long to catch up with me. It wasn't just the resultant chaos from the attack at their base. I would assume they'd replaced it with newer technology."

"What about…"

"The boy? I'm not sure but I'd expect so; probably in the same place. They can't risk us trying to dig it out forcefully, since that would be easy if it was in somewhere like an arm or a leg. It's not like any damage we did to ourselves in doing so would last long."

They boy in question was following the conversation. Suzaku knew it was Rolo, but his wide-eyed expression and his continued silence… it just didn't add up to the version of Rolo he'd known. He couldn't think of him as Rolo. Rolo or not, his eyes had been passing between Suzaku and EE, and when Suzaku glanced at him as EE finished speaking the boy met his eyes uncertainly, nodding and touching his own back. Yes, he thought he had a tracking device too.

"Ok… in that case, I'm going to have to remove them now."

EE quirked an eyebrow at Suzaku

"Military training may have been a very long time ago, and it may not have covered delicate surgery, but we did get basic training, which encompassed removing bullets and shrapnel. I can probably manage this. It doesn't have to be perfect since, as you said, you'll heal quickly, but I want to get this done now. They may already be closing in on our location."

"There's some first aid stuff in the front, including a surgical knife" said Lelouch sitting up from where he'd been resting. "I thought it might be useful."

Suzaku looked at Lelouch in surprise. "You're awake now? How long have you been awake? Why…"

Lelouch interrupted him, a faint, almost imperceptible blush on his cheeks at being caught pretending to sleep. "Long enough. Now… I thought you wanted to do this quickly?" He changed the subject, reminding the others that they were likely being followed. There was no need for Suzaku to know that he'd though his lap was comfy and he hadn't wanted to get up.

Suzaku leaned forward and opened the glove box, pulling out Lelouch's first aid kit, causing Rolo to flinch as he leaned across him.

"EE, I think it's best if I start with you. I'd feel more comfortable working on him," he said gesturing to Rolo, "after I know exactly what I'm looking for and where. He seems fragile… I don't want to scare him off."

"I agree. Besides he's not as resilient as I am. It takes him longer to heal, and some things he was never able to fix at all; like his voice, and his memories. His code is rotten, so it doesn't work so well."

"Rotten?" queried Lelouch, "… no, I'll ask later, we're pressed for time." He quickly organised the four of them so that EE was in the back seat with Suzaku. Lelouch busied himself by changing into clothes that were not bloodstained, passing his originals back to Suzaku so that the car did not get bloodied during the procedure.

After EE had removed his shirt, Suzaku carefully felt around his back until he came across a suspicious lump, tucked up against the base of the man's left shoulder blade. Since it didn't shift with the skin, he assumed it had been attached to the bone somehow.

"Are you ready?" he asked EE nervously, and when he received a positive response, Suzaku took a deep breath and brought the knife down to meet the skin. The man did not flinch or make any other movement as his skin was broken and his blood started to trickle down his back.

Suzaku slipped his finger into the incision attempting to feel for the device, but grateful for the surgical gloves that were provided with the first aid kit. The boy… Rolo was watching him expressionlessly.

Suzaku sigh with exasperation. The device was deeper than he'd thought. He taughtened the flesh above the device between two fingers, one on either side of where it was concealed, and certainly attached to the edge of the shoulder blade. With his other hand he picked up the knife again. He quickly sliced though the flesh and, working mostly by feel, his fingers finally connected with the warm metal coating of the device.

Cringing as the knife scraped against bone, he prised the device from the shoulder blade and deposited it onto the tissue he'd set aside for that purpose. He turned back to EE, and pressing the edges of his skin together he cleaned off most of the blood. He would have made an attempt at putting in a few stitches, but when he looked to observe the cut he noted it was already healing and didn't need help.

"Ok… I'm done here."

EE quickly got out of the car, changing into the alternate clothes Lelouch had brought for all of them. Then he and Lelouch coaxed the boy in front to move into the back, he looked somewhat more apprehensive about this now it was his turn.

Lelouch held Rolo's hand, trying to maintain eye contact and ensure the boy knew he was safe. Suzaku worked quickly, knowing what he was doing now. Since Rolo's skin didn't seem to be healing nearly as well as EE's had, when he'd removed the tracker, Suzaku added couple of stitches, just enough to hold the cut closed. They weren't neat, but he would have to take them out again in a couple of hours anyway. As a precaution he also decided to add a small amount of bandage as the wound was still oozing a little blood. He asked Rolo to remove his shirt so he could fasten the bandage securely around his shoulder.

The boy complied, and Lelouch stared in shock at what was unveiled on the boy's chest.

A black mark; the geass sigil, but inverted, upside down on his chest on the spot over the boy's heart, it's 'wingtips' drooping sadly downwards. Black, not red, and unlike Lelouch's own mark it was not a crisp clean edged symbol. Its edges and corners weren't sharp. It seemed somehow frayed.

Lelouch stared, his fingertip tracing the tattered shape as the boy watched him fearfully.

"A rotten code" provided EE. "That's what I told you. Marked on his skin as it takes hold of his body, keeping him alive, even if that should not be the case. Truthfully, I've never seen one before, but I have heard it mentioned in hushed whispers by code bearers older than myself."

Lelouch finally took his eyes off the mark and Suzaku continued the task of applying the bandage. Instead, Lelouch turned to face EE and was somewhat surprised by what he saw.

"EE… how and why have you acquired a pigeon?"

"I used to catch birds all the time as a boy, before I received my code. Catching a pigeon is easy since they're pretty stupid birds. As for why, I figured we could easily attach the tracking devices to the pigeon, to mislead our pursuers."

Lelouch's expression of confusion turned into a smile. This guy was smart. "Good idea," he said and quickly fashioned a small pouch out of the first aid box's contents, put in the tracking devices after cleaning them a little and helped EE to fasten it to the pigeon's leg. Luckily, the devices were small and lightweight; When EE released the pigeon it gave the pair of them a disgruntled look before flying off quickly.

The chance of being followed now sufficiently dwindled; the group rearranged themselves in the car, this time with Suzaku in the driver's seat, and Lelouch next to him.

As they set off back towards New Tokyo, Suzaku turned to Lelouch and said quietly. "Thanks for taking that bullet for me back there."

Lelouch blushed and turned away, apparently finding something very interesting to look at outside. "It was the most logical course of action," he lied "After all, if it'd been you that got shot, there's no way I'd have been able to carry you out of there, and we'd all be stuck."

Suzaku smiled. He recognised Lelouch's 'making excuses' tone of voice. It hadn't changed a bit since they were children, and he'd blamed any thing, but himself when it came to losing to Suzaku, or from his 'why I failed to complete my history assignment' stories at Ashford Academy. It was a convincingly sincere tone… but Suzaku knew Lelouch well enough to see through it. He also knew Lelouch well enough not to press the issue, since it would likely cause his friend to glare, and then sulk at him for a while.

Instead, he suggested Lelouch call their hotel to see if they could get another room for the two newcomers, and focused instead on not getting lost en route back there.

The rest of the journey back was quiet. Rolo and EE watched the world pass by outside their respective windows. Suzaku was certain the older individual was gauging how much the world had changed since he'd last been above ground. Rolo on the other hand seemed to be taking in the sights as if for the first time, occasionally taking a moment to caress the soft fabric of the t-shirt Lelouch had provided for him, a stark contrast to the coarse fabric of the garb he'd been confined in. Lelouch had finished his phone call and was now gazing forward with an intense contemplative expression. Suzaku decided it was a comfortable silence, so he let his passengers be, and focused on driving, glancing occasionally in the mirrors just in case.

* * *


	16. Chapter 16

**AN:** Hello again everyone. I bring you another chapter today, a week later than I was planning to get it out. Things like graduations and weddings got in the way. As compensation, I bring you the longest chapter so far (I think). In other news, I'm glad you all seem to like EE, a character that keeps surprising me (this chapter by offering me a bit of information that may bring the two halves of plot together). LuluxRolo fans out there, I'm sorry, but I'm not planning on doing much with that, hope you aren't too disappointed. Thanks to all my readers! Thanks for sticking with me despite my terribly strange updating 'schedule'.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Code Geass, but I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

* * *

After they arrived at the hotel the four were informed that it would be an hour or so before the room they had requested, next door to their current one, would become available. They made their way to the original room instead, as Lelouch was, at this point, desperate to have a shower and get the dried blood off, and the rescuees were probably looking forward to being properly clean in general.

As Suzaku had expected, when they had arrived in their room Lelouch picked up another change of clothes, this time his male attire; obviously he wasn't planning to leave the room again today, and headed straight to the bathroom, pausing only for a moment to inform the newcomers of his actions.

Rolo wandered the room curiously, occasionally reaching out to gingerly touch something. He stopped at the window, his eyes watching the everyday movement of people on the street below.

EE smiled at him softly, pleased that the boy was reacting well to the world outside the institute. He was doing very well, considering that, to his knowledge at least, the boy had only had a couple of days wandering the surface world before someone from the institute had found him and brought him in. The boy had shared those memories with him, hoping for a clue to his existence… they were all he'd had.

"Why doesn't he remember? He didn't even recognize Lelouch, who was the closest he had to a family since his own died. The only one to show him any kindness. He died to save him, or so I thought anyway. Lelouch said he'd buried him himself." Suzaku questioned EE in a hushed tone.

"He died. _That's_ why he doesn't remember. He didn't possess the code at the time of his death; its potential was activated later and revived him. But by that point the decay process had already started to set in. The code was able to restore his brain, but it couldn't bring back his memories, experience, and knowledge. It only restored essential functions; because it keeps him alive anyway he doesn't need a functional digestive system, or a voice. I'm surprised it got as far as restoring his sight.

"But he's been quite lucky. He arrived there just after the institute lost all it's funding. They'd already withdrawn to that bunker after the main site was destroyed. I think they were hoping they'd be restored after the war, but it didn't happen. The wrong side won I guess. Thus the boy missed out on the experiments they used to do; testing how far the code would go to restore its holder. Mostly he was just a prisoner, they didn't have the budget to do anything more with either of us. Recently they'd received a little more interest, and were hoping for more funding, that's why there was security... it may have not been enough to keep us there, but it was more than they've had for a long while."

Suzaku gaped at the immortal, "'How far the code would go'? They did that sort of thing to you?" EE nodded. "… That's horrible. How… how've you not gone mad with that kind of treatment? You still feel pain after all."

"It certainly wasn't a pleasant experience. But we have a dissociation mechanism, when we regenerate anyway, so that we don't feel the pain of that at least. Repeatedly dying in a variety of ways, while certainly not fun, you do get used to it. It's not like I didn't suffer intensely painful, near death experiences before I received my code, and partially of my own vocation... and lack of appropriate organisation."

Lelouch chose that moment to emerge from the bathroom, having tried to keep his cleaning quick, so that the others could have their turn.

"Organisation is helpful... but even the most vigorous planning can be undone by an unexpected element," he contributed, looking much happier, probably because of his remasculisation.

"That too. The weather can be so dreadfully inconvenient at times," provided EE, obeying Lelouch's fervent hand gestures and accepting the towel being waved in his direction and disappearing into the bathroom himself.

Lelouch sat down beside Suzaku on the bed.

"What are we going to do about these guys?" queried Suzaku. "I'm not saying rescuing them was wrong, because it wasn't, but you're due to be in Britannia with the Empress by the end of the week. EE may cope well enough on his own, but Rolo won't.''

"I suppose we'll have to ask Nunally to extend the invite. They don't have to stay in the palace, just close enough to keep an eye on."

The pair watched as the boy the left the window and climbed onto the bed, watching the pair of them warily.

Lelouch met the boy's eyes, "Would you like to come with us to Britannia?" he asked softly.

Rolo nodded and inched closer, reaching out to touch Lelouch's arm, putting more assurance into his response. He then sat back, a brief expression of concentration on his face. Then he touched Lelouch's arm again, meeting his eyes firmly.

_Why are we going to Britannia? Who are you? Do you know me? Talk to me..._

The questions came over the code connection in rapid fire, quieting towards the end as if using this method of communication was exhausting for the boy, and that he couldn't use it as much as he'd like. It clarified one thing though: That Rolo may have been mute and memory-less, naive to the world around him, but he was not stupid, and he had a perfect grasp of Britannia. He may not be able to talk to them easily, but he knew what was going on.

Glancing back at Suzaku, Lelouch knew that his friend hadn't 'heard' what Rolo had just said.

"We're going to Britannia to see my sister, Nunally, who wants my advice on a very important decision she has to make. My name is Lelouch, or Lucinda if I'm dressed like I was earlier, but you can call me Lulu if it's less confusing. This is my friend Suzaku, who is also something like a bodyguard for my sister. And yes, I do know who you are. Your name is Rolo, and you used to be like a little brother to me… before…"

Lelouch trailed off, disarmed by the sudden vibrant smile on the boy's face.

He supposed that having lacked an identity for so long, it was wonderful to have a name to think of yourself by, _and_ someone to think of as a relative.

Especially for Rolo; having someone like a brother had meant so much to him even when he'd had his memories. Perhaps too much, considering Shirley, but then Rolo was an orphan, raised as an assassin, a killer. Perhaps letting him get that overprotective hadn't been Lelouch's best idea.

Lelouch was determined not to let him get like that again, He wasn't sure if he wanted Rolo to get all of his memories back, that Rolo had died. This Rolo did not have the troubled past, and the memory of committing murder on command. He had a clean slate as it were. Lelouch didn't want to mar it, and take away Rolo's second chance. Not that he had any idea how to get his memory back if he wanted to.

From what EE had conjectured, it wasn't a case of amnesia. The memories had rotted and not been restored. They weren't simply inaccessible, they were irretrievably gone. More important to Lelouch was improving Rolo's quality of life, for example by finding some way of getting his voice back and his digestive system working again. Allowing him some semblance of normality in his life.

As Lelouch, thought process reached the decision to definitely do something about it, if at all possible, he was startled out of his thoughts as Rolo suddenly clung to his arm, pressing himself tightly against him. It seemed the boy had decided to form an attachment with Lelouch, and Lelouch allowed the boy to hug him, much to Suzaku's apparent amusement.

Suzaku smiled, stifling laughter as Rolo clung to Lelouch, holding on tightly to the person who held the answer to his missing identity, as if he would suddenly disappear. He ignored his other emotion, the one he couldn't quite place, that flared as Lelouch responded to the action, embracing the other boy, He wasn't sure, but it might have been something like jealousy.

Instead, he reached forward to tousle the boy's hair. He hadn't liked Rolo's closeness to Lelouch back in their Ashford days. At the time he'd put it down to dissatisfaction at Rolo not doing his job professionally, by getting to close to the person he was supposedly spying on; as well as to a disquieting feeling that it should be Nunally that Lelouch was acting brotherly with. Neither of those reasons should apply now though, so maybe it was just a sentiment of habit? He decided not to think about it, there was nothing wrong with showing a little kindness and brotherly affection to the boy who had been starved of it for so long.

EE finally emerged from the bathroom, looking much better, now clean-shaven and having trimmed his hair down to a short length.

"Rolo, it's your turn in the bathroom now," said Lelouch, pulling the boy of off his chest.

Rolo stood, took a few steps towards the bathroom, before hesitating uncertainly, and glancing back at Lelouch.

"Oh, I forgot, you don't remember doing this. I don't expect they let you get clean by yourself at that place." Lelouch stood and lead Rolo into the bathroom. ''I guess I can give you a few clues before letting you tend for yourself in here."

The bathroom door fell closed behind them, and Suzaku ignored the emotion that definitely wasn't _anything_ like jealousy, which gave another faint twinge as he was cut off from the proceedings. He sighed, and lay back on the bed, fumbling for the phone.

He had to call Nunally. They really needed to be out of Japan as early tomorrow as possible. They may be freed from immediate detection, but Suzaku doubted that place would let its only two immortal specimens escape without a little more attempt at finding them. They needed them to get their funding after all, not that they could do much with it now without subjects.

He hastily dialled the number, paying vague attention as EE left the room to see if their other hotel room was ready yet.

* * *

Some time later, Lelouch re-emerged from the bathroom with a perfectly groomed Rolo in tow. It wasn't just a case of being clean; it seemed as though Lelouch had attacked his hair with scissors, resulting in the boy's long since trimmed hair being restored to its short, slightly curly form. Rolo looked mildly shell-shocked. Suzaku assumed that Lelouch had gone about his self-assigned task with his usual gusto, probably involving much near-fatal scissor waving. That Rolo hadn't run from the room in fear was the real surprise.

By this point Suzaku had succeeded in getting in contact with Nunally and letting her know there would be extra guests. With a second call he'd managed to arrange a flight for the four of them to Britannia the following morning, as well as permission for them to avoid the usual security checks at the airport. Suzaku was still paranoid about pursuit, and he would expect them to guess that they were trying to leave the country and get away as quickly as possible and would perhaps try to intercept them. He did however highly doubt they suspected they had the authority carried by the title of Zero among them.

He would, however, have to travel in his Zero uniform again just so he would be recognised as such when they landed. He needed to be Zero, not Suzaku, when they arrived in Britannia. There were still people who might recognise him otherwise after all. He wasn't too happy about this, he had been very much enjoying being, mostly, free of the suit for the past few days, and wasn't looking forward to not being able to go out in public without it.

EE had returned, not only bearing keys for the room next door, but also somehow having procured another, better fitting set of clothes for himself and Rolo, presumably for tomorrow. Suzaku had no idea how he'd got them, and wasn't entirely sure he wanted to. A short time after his return the group spilt in half, EE going next door with Rolo to go to sleep. It was fairly late and as Suzaku had informed them, they would be departing early the following day.

EE had smiled and said he wouldn't mind accompanying them a little further, just to make sure Rolo would be ok, but that he would probably be leaving a week or two after they arrived in Britannia. Suzaku had flushed faintly in his presumption that EE would have no qualms coming with them to Britannia and apologised. Lelouch had refrained from commenting, he was glad this code-bearer was staying with them a little longer, he had a few more questions he wanted to ask of him, particularly concerning codes in general, since CC hadn't really been able to answer them or hadn't wanted to, but EE seemed more knowledgeable.

As Lelouch sat down on the bed beside Suzaku he heaved a sigh.

"I really don't know what to do with Rolo." he admitted.

"What do you mean? He'll be fine in Britannia, he was never as high profile as either of us, he won't be recognised."

"It's not that," said Lelouch, leaning back on his hands and staring up at the ceiling as if it held the answers he sought. "I want to help him, I really do. But I don't know how. He wants his memories back I think, but that won't make him happy."

Suzaku moved to sit closer, resting a hand on Lelouch's shoulder. "To be honest, I'm a little surprised that you want to do so much for him. I thought this rescue mission was largely just a case of curiosity, and that you'd be satisfied with just the simple matter of freeing him and finding out who it was that had got into your dreams. After all, despite your act to the contrary, I didn't think you liked Rolo very much."

"I didn't. But it's different now. It's my fault he's like this. After Shirley died… I kept trying to put Rolo in situations where he would be killed. And yet he remained blindly loyal to me, refusing to acknowledge my very transparent act of brotherliness even though he saw through it, and willingly sacrificed himself to get me out of Schniezel's clutches. He died for me… if he'd been alive when he received his code, however he got it, he wouldn't be like this. Therefore… I should try to make it like he didn't die, remove my direct impact on his current condition as best I can."

Lelouch was mumbling now, trying to mix logic and cold reason into his desire to help Rolo, but Suzaku knew otherwise. He wanted to help Rolo, not to repay the dept, but because Rolo in his current condition was reminding Lelouch of Nunally, even if Lelouch couldn't see this himself. Rolo was disabled, currently not in a state where he could fend for himself, and Lelouch couldn't help himself accepting the role of protective older brother. He couldn't really be that way with Nunally anymore. She was the leader of what was still the most powerful country in the world, and was doing an excellent job of it. She didn't need his protection. Rolo however, did.

Suzaku pulled Lelouch out of his daze and into a hug, leaving the other momentarily speechless.

"It'll be ok Lulu. We'll figure it out, get him fixed up somehow. He may not look it right now, but Rolo is a strong person, he'll be fine."

Lelouch tentatively returned the embrace, before immediately pushing Suzaku away indignantly. "Of course he will," said Lelouch confidently, though Suzaku could see that he wasn't convinced.

* * *

**AN:** so what do you guys think. Interestingly, in regards to Rolo reminding Lulu of Nunally, when I first conceived Rolo's role in this he was going to be blind, and at the time I didn't even think about Nunally. But when I wrote it, he turned up mute instead, and I think I prefer it that way.


	17. Chapter 17

**AN:** Chapter 17… Later than I was expecting to post considering I've been writing it for two weeks… but then, I did do a lot of research as I was writing this one. And it doesn't really show, as after doing it, I decided just to make things up as I went along… but I do have a vague understanding as to how Britannia (the country, as opposed to it's colonisation of the rest of the world) works. And I've figured out a fair amount of alternate history. But history and politics, especially politics…, are not my strong point, so if you notice anything that seems dreadfully stupid, I tried my best so forgive me.

Thanks as usual to all my reviewers, and to all those lovely people who've added me to their alerts and favourites lists.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Code Geass.

* * *

The next morning the four had got up and made it to the airport with all due efficiency. Lelouch, of course, made no mention of the fact that he'd yet again awoken to find himself pressed up against Suzaku, half draped across him. This had obviously been because he was cold, and Suzaku had been warm, and even his unconscious mind was able to respond to that logic. Suzaku didn't need to know, and, since Lelouch had managed to get up without waking him, hopefully he never would.

Suzaku had been pleasantly surprised when he woke up in the early hours of the morning as his friend had cuddled closer. Suzaku had allowed Lelouch to do so, smiling at the unwitting display of affection. Of course, Lelouch would probably be angry with him if he'd known, because of course, in Lelouch's opinion it would have probably been Suzaku's fault rather than his own. He was only ever that affectionate when unconscious after all, and, because he appreciated being allowed to see Lelouch in such a cutely unguarded state, he would make certain that the privilege was not withdrawn by keeping quiet about it. Lelouch need never know he'd seen.

How they'd made it to the airport without someone noticing that one member of their party had departed only to be replaced a few minutes later by Zero, Lelouch wasn't sure, but they'd managed it. It had probably had something to do with the assorted list of taxi numbers EE had surreptitiously picked up at the reception and passed to Suzaku. EE was surprisingly streetwise for someone who had been away from society for so long.

Nevertheless they made it to the airport and onto the plane with nothing more than the standard air travel related delays. They were seated in the largely deserted first class section of the plane, something Lelouch and Suzaku were particularly pleased with. The tension dropping out of Suzaku's frame was highly visible, even through his cape and helmet, as the plane left the ground. Lelouch too was marginally relieved that they had succeeded in getting Rolo and EE out of the county without further run-ins with their former jailers. However, they were heading to Britannia, and while this was good for their new companions, it was not so good for himself. Britannia, the Royal Household in particular, was like heading into the lions' den with only his thin disguise to protect him. He was much more likely to be recognised there than anywhere else.

EE seemed to be doing a sufficient job of keeping Rolo entertained, so Lelouch allowed himself to turn his attention to the task ahead.

Nunally had sent him a list and details of all his half nieces and nephews, the grandchildren of Charles vi Britannia. Considering just how many brothers and sisters he'd had, it was not a short list. It was a certainty that none of them had felt the need to reproduce quite as much their father, though that would probably have been impossible for some of them anyway.

Lelouch immediately dismissed all other than the first born from each branch of their family, which only did a little to reduce the numbers, most of his nieces and nephews were only children. Perhaps having been born one of so many had made his siblings feel that being an only child would be nice and afforded their own offspring the favour. It's not as if they were raising a horde of children to have an all out competition for successor to the throne… or at least they hadn't known it would come to that at the time. He noticed that Nunally had done the same, those she considered potential candidates were marked, and were all included in his selection. Looking through the marked names, one in particular caught his eye.

"Cornelia named her eldest daughter after Euphemia?" Lelouch queried Suzaku, who nodded in acknowledgement. "That's just like her… Euphie was always her favourite sibling; she was very protective of her… I suppose everyone was, to some extent…"

Lelouch faltered to a stop as he felt Suzaku tense almost imperceptibly beside him. Euphemia was always a dangerous subject to breach in front of Suzaku. He still wasn't certain of the exact nature of the relationship between them, but Suzaku had been her knight, and they had shared very similar, if naïve, views on how to change the world. Lelouch had even briefly believed that with the pair of them working together, Japan could have become a better, more equal and just place to live, without his interference. Of course, he'd never gotten the chance to see how it would have worked out, thanks to the dratted ill-timing of his geass.

Suzaku still didn't know the exact nature of Euphie's death. Lelouch had never once told him that he hadn't meant to geass her; that death had been the only way to prevent her from trampling her own values beyond recognition, a slave to the order that he'd never intended. He had never expected the repercussions of his tasteless humour. All Suzaku knew was that Lelouch deeply regretted Euphie's death, and that, hopefully, he still forgave him for it. After all, after Lelouch, the demon emperor, no one remembered the story of the massacre princess.

"Mia," came the hesitant voice from his left. "For short. That's what they call her…"

"Mia? Is she anything like…?"

"Not so much. She takes more after her parents, I think."

"You've met her then?"

"Of course. I'm pretty well acquainted with your extended family. They all put in an appearance every once in a while, even though they all have their own districts to take care of. Britannia may be smaller than it once was, having surrendered most of the areas, but it's big enough in its own right for Nunally to need representatives spread out across it, and a lot of your siblings married into the families of the nobles who traditionally carry that responsibility. I've seen most of them as they've grown up. And it's not like Cornelia didn't try to raise Mia to have Euphie's gentle nature, because she did. And she does normally come across as a calm and gentle person. Just up until the point when somebody displays the slightest incompetence at following her orders… and then the side of her that most definitely takes after Cornelia tends to glower through. She's got these really piercing blue eyes that look straight through you and deem you unworthy… not that I've been fixed with that look since she was about six years old. Of course, she's now married to the Duke of Winchester and they have two young boys."

"Yes, it says that here. Obviously Nunally wants to make the issue of who inherits the throne simpler by considering the inheritance issue. She doesn't want another complex situation like she's dealing with at present, if it turns out her heir has no heir. All of the candidates she's listed here either have healthy children or are likely to within the next couple of years."

Lelouch continued his perusal of the list, eyes gliding over the names of relatives he hadn't seen for years, not since his own brief spell as emperor, and as such, considering his treatment of many of them at the time, probably remembered him very badly, even putting his more public actions as emperor aside. He was slightly intimidated by the thought of seeing some of them again, now they were no longer influenced by his geass, but he consoled himself with the thought that they would not recognise him.

Guinevere, his oldest sister, and possibly the person who hated his memory the most, was thankfully not on the list, but one of his youngest half sisters, and Guinevere's comrade in Lelouch-hating, Carline, was. Her son, James, was listed; one of the youngest of the candidates, and apparently very intelligent. He was set to marry the Duchess of California in two months time, so there was plenty of chance for him to have children. Lelouch was wary, Carline had never liked him, and she seethed with hatred at Nunally and her pacifistic nature. For being the same age, they couldn't have been more different. There was nothing to suggest that James was anything like as spiteful as his mother, so Lelouch would wait until he met him to make his judgment.

Flipping through, he finally came across the name he'd been most wary of. Schniezel el Britannia. Lelouch had had no idea what his most… aggravating half brother had been doing since he'd 'died'. He hadn't heard anything, but then he hadn't heard anything of any of his siblings, other than Nunally. Schniezel's son was called Roderick. Lelouch was a little surprised that his brother had gotten around to having children, it hadn't really seemed in his nature, and it was hard to picture him as a parent, and he voiced the thought to Suzaku.

"Schniezel's changed a lot since you geassed him. He's helped Nunally a lot, especially during her first few years as Empress. He mostly does as I tell him nowadays, and is otherwise rather placid, as if he doesn't want to risk a telling off. So it's my fault, I suppose, that he has a son."

"Your fault? Why, what didyou say to him?"

"I don't remember exactly… but I think I may have said that raising a child might be a worthwhile activity, since so many of his other siblings were doing so. And then a few months later, the next time he visited Pendragon it was with a wife, No one quite knows how it came about, not even Kanon, who, by the way, is still fiercely loyal to Schniezel. She was the eldest daughter of the Duke of Manchester at the time, though her brother holds the title now.

"She was a lovely woman, pretty, I suppose, fairly smart, and she seemed nice, though I only met her once. However, she was a very sickly woman, with a long history of health problems, and she didn't get out much, otherwise I sure she would have been married years before she met your brother. Roderick was their only son, she passed away a few months after he was born, and he was raised mostly by Schniezel with Kanon's help."

"What's he like?" asked Lelouch, hoping very much that he wasn't another Schniezel.

"Absolutely nothing like Schniezel," said Suzaku, as if reading Lelouch's mind "At least from what I know of him."

Lelouch relaxed. The last thing he wanted was another Schniezel conspiring to power. He put the list to one side, he couldn't form any conclusions from it alone, but it would be good to have the essentials in mind when he got round to meeting these people. At least knowing a little about them would make a first meeting run more smoothly.

He looked up to find EE and Rolo engrossed in what they'd been doing. EE had a faint smile on his face, as if he weren't conscious of its presence, and he kept glancing up at Lelouch then back down at the pad of paper in his lap. He snapped out of his daze when he noticed Lelouch's eyes upon him.

"I haven't done this for years, so I'm a little rusty" he said, tipping his page forward, to show a half finished sketch, undoubtedly a drawing of the disguised Lelouch. "They didn't really let me have the chance to pursue my hobbies while I was imprisoned after all. Of course, I used to draw animals, but" he gestured around "this environment is somewhat lacking in wildlife. I also thought the boy might like to give it ago… I don't know if you'll be able to fix his voice, but art, drawing in general, is an effective means of communication, especially since he hasn't relearnt how to write yet."

"Rolo," said Lelouch, "he's Rolo… even if he doesn't remember it."

"Is it safe for him to use that name? You're hardly using your real identity after all, and you said he was your brother."

"It should be fine, he's only an adoptive brother, I guess. He was considerably lower profile than me, I shouldn't think there are many people around who knew much about him. My other family… the ones we're visiting, they shouldn't know him. I suppose… we can still call him my little brother. Since I'm pretending to be from a fictional branch of my mother's family, no one will be any the wiser."

"What about me?" asked EE, "what role do I play in this scheme?"

"Scheme? It's hardly a scheme, but there's no way I can travel as myself; I'd be arrested on sight, and it would likely throw the country into chaos. You can be a cousin or an uncle if you like, and I'll try to convince them you need to be with Rolo as an assistant to help with his disability or something. He needs to stay with someone familiar to him and I expect I'll be busy a lot of the time."

"I'll be your uncle then, I'm a bit old to pass successfully as a cousin."

"Surely you're not that old; rather, you weren't that old when…"

"I was old for someone carrying a code… Physically speaking, I'm the oldest, even if I'm not in terms of years of existence. It seems younger people are more fundamentally suited to the code's purpose, whatever it is, but my code, it didn't have a lot of choice at the time it formed."

Lelouch wanted to ask more about codes and how much EE knew about them, since their existence remained mystifying to Lelouch, but decided against it. They would have plenty of time for that later, and it sounded like EE didn't know much more than he did anyway. Instead, he turned his attention to the boy sitting across from him.

"What have you drawn?" he asked Rolo.

Shyly, Rolo handed the paper he was drawing on across to him. The picture was messy, as if drawn by a child; a sign, Lelouch assumed, that Rolo's fine motor skills hadn't been properly restored. Nevertheless the drawing brought a smile to his face, more so than any of Clovis's paintings ever had, despite his half brother's skill. Four figures stood, hand in hand, and it was obvious who was who. Suzaku stood on one end, holding Lelouch's hand tightly and standing close, protectively. Lelouch, drawn wearing his disguise, stood beside Rolo, who had a smile on his face, and on his other side was EE. Lelouch didn't need words to know that this picture was an expression of gratitude from Rolo, that the people he'd drawn were his new family and that he would trust them. Lelouch was determined to earn that trust. He would do his best, for both sides of his family, for Nunally and for Rolo.

* * *

**AN:** So, I finally introduce some of the contenders to the throne. These are the three I know most about thus far, and are likely to be the main contenders, and will join EE in the ranks of OCs with major roles.

Roderich, James and Mia. What do you think of them so far? Also… I hope the Dukes I named didn't seem too out of place. I know Britannia is an alternate America, but I figured that reused British place names would takes higher precedence than others considering the alternate history… so I'm trying to keep a mix of them. And realising how very little I know about America…


	18. Chapter 18

**AN:** I'm so sorry I disappeared for a month and a half without warning. It wasn't planned… I just had a lot of trouble starting this chapter, and then even more trouble deciding what I wanted to happened in it. So I went and wrote something else instead while I waited for inspiration. And then inspiration arrived, I had trouble getting a certain character to do as I wanted and still say in character. _And_ it's extremely difficult writing at home with constant interruptions from my sister. A lot of my time has also been consumed with attempting to get a job, which hasn't happened yet.

So, I'm sorry. I have more idea of what happens next, so I'm going to try to start as soon as possible and hopefully I won't keep you guys waiting so long for an update again. I'm going to try to get at least one more chapter out before the London Expo at the end of the month. If I don't, feel free to tell me off.

Anyway… I hope this chapter is ok… I'm not happy with how it ended up, but I've kept everyone waiting too long as it is. Next chapter should be better.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Code Geass.

* * *

When they landed in Britannia it was early in the morning, earlier than it had been when they'd left Japan. Lelouch had spent most of the flight asleep against Suzaku's shoulder. Suzaku was glad, Lelouch's sleep had obviously been lacking in quality recently, haunted by the dreams from Rolo, and so now that Rolo was rescued he could sleep better and was catching up. It would save him the problem of jet-lag. Suzaku wouldn't have that issue, he'd done so much jetting about over the past two weeks that his body clock would be happy to get back into Britannia time. Rolo had slept, and EE had remained awake, drawing occasionally, and talking quietly with Suzaku, filling himself in on the past several decades of history he'd missed out on.

The landing party which met them off the plane contained no one particularly important since their arrival had been organised at short notice and the local Britannian welcoming committee was rather busy. Apparently Nunally was planning a family celebration in the run up to her Golden Jubilee and nobles were arriving from across the country. If anything, this pleased Lelouch. It meant their arrival would go largely unremarked upon, people would assume he, or rather 'she', was just another relative of the Empress, granted, one that didn't show up on the Britannian family tree, and had been escorted by Zero, but he was sure people would just assume Nunally had her reasons and think no more of it. It also meant he would get to meet all of Nunally's potential successors without them being aware of why.

The journey to the palace was uneventful, and they were escorted through the various security measures and shown to their rooms. Suzaku had disappeared, presumably to stop by Zero's quarters to stash his own share of belongings secretly, and then report to Nunally. Each of the three new arrivals received security passes and were requested to be in possession of them at all times, so their presence in the palace went unchallenged, and so they could come and go from the palace into the city freely.

Lelouch settled into his quarters, and ensured that EE, and particularly Rolo were also settled in suitably in rooms on the same corridor. The rooms were small; the best of the guest rooms had of course been reserved for the more important visitors, which, Lelouch was sure, included many of his half-brothers and sisters, as well as his nieces and nephews who he would be discussing with Nunally. There were a lot of visitors, and Lelouch was impressed that they were staying in the palace at all, relatively unimportant as they were, since most of those that were not relatives of Nunally were staying in the city. He supposed Nunally was responsible for that too, he was impressed she'd managed to convince whoever it was who was in charge of organising the rooms to free up two more at short notice.

Rolo was looking a little bewildered; probably the rush of so many new experiences and environments, and Lelouch took a few moments to reassure him, and made EE promise to keep an eye on the boy when he wasn't there.

And, about half an hour after they'd been shown their rooms, Lelouch was summoned by a maid to meet with the Empress. Before leaving, Lelouch politely requested that his companions were given a tour of the palace, and perhaps shown to the library. He considered this a good way for the other immortal to continue filling in the gaps in his memory left by his imprisonment, and was a quiet and calm environment for Rolo.

Lelouch was curious as to why EE had been held as a prisoner when CC and VV had been high ranking members of the geass order, before CC had left, and VV had given away his code and the order was, supposedly, completely destroyed on Zero's orders. But now wasn't the time to ask, he had to go meet his sister.

He couldn't decide whether he was more apprehensive or excited, eager or terrified. Though he'd spoken with her on the phone, and had seen her face many times on television and computer screens over the past fifty years, it wasn't the same as seeing his sister face to face. The only thing he was certain about was that he'd much rather face her looking more like himself, and not dressed like he was, but it couldn't be helped.

* * *

He was shown into a small room, and asked to wait until the Empress was ready to see him. After a few minutes he looked up as Zero entered the room and removed his helmet.

"She's been held up because Cornelia's just arrived, and she's required to go and greet her," Suzaku said with a sheepish grin. "She asked me to come and keep you company. I think she wants me here for moral support."

"For me or for her?" asked Lelouch, smiling faintly

"Good question," replied Suzaku removing his cloak, draping it over a chair and then sitting down beside Lelouch. "You can, um… de-feminise if you want. Nunally will come in by herself; since I'm here, there's no need for anyone else to guard her."

Lelouch sighed with relief and kicked off his shoes; he then gave Suzaku an odd look, and turned away. He fiddled around for a few moments and when he turned back his chest was looking flat, and he'd zipped his jacket up to his throat. He didn't remove the wig; it would be to difficult to replace it in here without a mirror, but he pulled it back behind his shoulders and then tucked it into his jacket. He contemplated attempting to rub some of the makeup from his face, but decided that it would smudge everywhere and he'd just look even more ridiculous.

As a result, he managed to look slightly less girly. Though, being Lelouch, it was likely nothing he could do would ever stop him looking at least slightly feminine, since with his facial features he would have a hard time ever looking particularly 'manly'. Suzaku sniggered at the mental image of a macho Lulu; heavily muscled, dressed casually in clothes Lelouch would usually cast aside for not meeting his high standards, his hair cropped shorter, maybe even completely gone, and perhaps even a tattoo or two. It was a ridiculous image, Lelouch looked much better the way he was now, and was even more acceptable as a female than the disturbing macho version Suzaku had just imagined.

Lelouch gave him another look, probably wondering what he found so amusing, but before he had a chance to ask the door opened and Nunally wheeled in.

As the door shut softly behind Nunally's wheelchair, and he met his sister's eyes, Lelouch had to suppress the urge to bolt from the room. His sister, his usually sweet, soft-hearted sister, could be quite scary when she had sufficient reason to, and she certainly had sufficient reason to be angry with him.

She didn't look the same as he remembered. Of course, that was only to be expected, it had been fifty years since they'd last been in the same room, but it was sad, and disconcerting to see his baby sister looking so old. He hadn't been prepared for it… he blamed Suzaku for not having aged physically. Even though he'd seen an older Kallen recently, and had known his sister was in her sixties too… he supposed this was the curse of immortality, to see his close friends and family age and even die, while he was left behind. He collected his thoughts and managed a smile for her.

Nunally smiled at the sight of her brother and Suzaku sitting beside each other, pleased to see them together in a world not consumed by war. The smile faded as she recalled the last time she'd seen the pair together, even if Suzaku had be disguised as Zero at the time. It wasn't a happy memory. She remembered that she wasn't very pleased with the pair of them, and her expression hardened somewhat.

"Brother, Suzaku," she started as they stood in greeting. She wheeled closer. "Please, sit down; you can relax around me."

They sat down again, and Lelouch tried to relax. "It's nice to see you again Nunally, I haven't stopped worrying about you… but you're doing well. I'm glad."

"Of course I'm doing well. I'll admit, ruling Britannia was challenging at first, I didn't really know what I was doing, and you did leave the world in such a mess. But I had a lot of help from Cornelia and Zero of course, and surprisingly from Schniezel as well, since I'd thought he was keen on taking that position for himself, not giving it to me." Here Lelouch noticed Suzaku shifting a little guiltily out of the corner of his eye. "But I'm not stupid, and I certainly don't need coddling and being sheltered all the time. I learned quickly… I may not be the greatest ruler Britannia has ever had, but I don't think I'm doing too badly."

Lelouch cringed. He had heard what his sister was really saying. It was that she didn't need his protection, and that without him around to shelter her from the world and its harsher truths, she had finally had the chance to grow up. She was now an independent, strong willed person, and she most certainly didn't need him to try to return to the position he'd previously had in her life. She could, if only figuratively, stand up for herself. He wasn't here to make the decision for her, merely to give her friendly, unbiased advice, and perhaps to see a side of her potential successors that they would not show Nunally herself.

"I understand," he said. "I think you're doing brilliantly. I don't regret protecting you when you were younger… you were my baby sister. We'd been through so much and l just wanted you to be happy… you were all I really had left and I didn't want to lose you. But you don't need me as a big brother anymore, or Suzaku either. I know he's been here to look after you, like I asked him too, but he's let you make your own choices. And we'll continue letting you make your own choices. But I'm still glad you've asked me to be here, as a friend, if not as a brother, because this is one of the biggest decisions you'll ever make, and we want to be here to support you."

"Yes, I can make my own decisions, but I do appreciate advice in _my_ best interests, rather than that of my advisor, and when it comes to this issue in particular, they all seem to have their own opinions, and none of them coincide. I know, perhaps better than you yourself, that you have a few issues when it comes to protecting people, specifically me. I will ask that you make sure this remains directed at the boy you have brought with you, and not at me, as I don't need it. You are here as a trusted friend, not as my brother, and you will be repaid for your assistance, so long as you don't act too… motherly towards me. Not monetarily, but I know you want to help the boy that you brought with you, and help solve Suzaku's own mystery, and I will give you access to any resources you deem necessary. And I expect you to behave, and for me to be aware of what you're doing at all times. No plotting or scheming without informing me why first."

Lelouch practically hung his head in shame. That had been Nunally's way of telling him off for all of the scheming he'd done before, in that first year he'd been Zero, where, without directly lying to her, he'd broken his promise of not lying to her by avoiding telling her the truth. Nunally's promise of help was, however, welcome. "I promise." he said, meaning it fully.

"Good," she said, smiling brightly, instantly lightening the atmosphere in the room. "There's nothing planned for today, since my guests are still arriving, so you make take your meals whenever you wish, just ask, someone will even bring them to your room if you wish. Tomorrow however, there will be a ball to welcome everyone, so you might like to use today to procure something appropriate to wear. I must say Lelouch; I can now understand why Milly took such delight in dressing you up. You look just like mother," she laughed, as did Suzaku, but Lelouch frowned.

"You brought this on yourself when you chose that disguise," Suzaku reminded him with barely concealed glee. "Anyway, I'm sure you'll enjoy shopping for a ball gown."

"He'll look lovely, won't he Suzaku," asked Nunally, enjoying the nostalgic feel to Suzaku teasing Lelouch, just like he had when they were all children. That and the fact that her brother and Suzaku still had their youthful appearances, made her feel younger, an altogether pleasant feeling.

"He will," said Suzaku, "I'm sure there will be many young men queuing up to dance with him."

Lelouch, blushing rather hard, punched Suzaku on the arm, then, seeing Suzaku's expression, one that hinted he was about to comment on Lelouch's underwhelming physical capabilities, he twisted to face away, his arms crossed sulkily.

`"Now, now brother," scolded Nunally playfully. "That's not very ladylike, I expect better from you tomorrow."

Lelouch sighed in defeat. He should have remembered before he'd agreed to come here. His sister and his best friend, when combined, were even worse even than Milly when it came to winding him up, and that was saying a lot. He supposed it was Milly and Suzaku together that were to blame for his sister developing that way. He turned back and met his sister's eyes. He deserved much more than just teasing as punishment for what he'd done to her. He supposed he should just be glad his sister was willing to forgive him, and wasn't ordering him and Suzaku to be imprisoned as traitors.

"Oh, and Suzaku, don't think you're going to get away with just wearing your Zero suit all the time. I have something special planned for next week that I haven't told you about yet."

Suzaku stopped laughing and paled, fearing whatever it was Nunally had planned.

"Now brother… before you leave, I want to hear what you and Miss CC have been up to for the past fifty years, and I want to know exactly who your two new companions are."

* * *

**AN:** Rght... So Nunally tells Lelouch that she'll take no more babying from him, she's a grown up, ruler of half the planet, and really doesn't need it. And the whole 'meeting the potential sucessors' deal is being covered up with her Golden Jubilee celebrations. Because 50 years is a golden jubilee, and i'm ashamed it took me so long to remember it. So... other than dancing, what other events should I include?


	19. Chapter 19

**AN: **Time for another update! Not much to say here... Thanks to all my lovely reviewers, and to all readers of this story for your support. I can promise fun things coming up future chapters, and I may actually have to start making notes because it's getting complicated.

**Disclaimer: **I still don't own Code Geass... Though I do now own some Code Geass DVDs.

* * *

Lelouch had talked to Nunally for half an hour, fully explaining to her about the other two immortals, how he owed his life to Rolo, who had looked to him as an older brother after Lelouch's memory had been wiped by his father, and that Rolo now had no memory of his own past. He told her that EE, or 'William', as he'd asked to be called while here, was another code bearer, like himself, and like CC had been before, and that he hoped he would help him figure out what had happened to Rolo and Suzaku, that had made them immortal, even though Rolo had died.

He also filled her in on his past fifty years with CC, though there wasn't much to tell, especially on his part. Nunally seemed surprised that he hadn't married CC, though, he remembered, CC had rather given his sister the wrong impression right from the start. He mentally cursed CC and reminded himself to tell her off when he returned to hiding.

After that she left, taking Suzaku with her. She had a busy schedule, and now Zero was back he was expected to resume his self-appointed position as her bodyguard. Lelouch reorganized his disguise and also left.

He wandered through the palace casually; taking in how much had changed since he had ruled from here. It was a fabulous building really, and had stood for hundreds of years, and was no less functional in comfort as a palace, or as a military structure than it had been when it was built, though of course there had been many new additions over the years, some more well informed than others.

He made his way to the library; an impressive collection of rooms, an indicator of its expansion over time, that, within their walls contained almost the complete history of Britannia, and the Britannian royal family since long before they'd moved to rule the New World, and a great deal of other reference material too.

It was impressive that such a collection had survived so long, given Britannia's turbulent history. He considered the age of the library, and wondered if he himself would last so long, and if so, would his memories of the world correspond to what was written in the history books. But of course it wouldn't, it already didn't. He wasn't dead after all, and he doubted the accounts of his life up to his supposed 'death' were honest, most likely they served to blacken his name further.

He was surprised on entering the library and locating EE and Rolo, to find that they weren't alone. EE was engaged in conversation with a very familiar face.

He walked over, smiling to himself, casually taking a seat beside Rolo. "Well, well… if it isn't Mr. Orange. What a pleasant surprise."

The man looked over at him, momentary confusion shining in his eyes. It was as Suzaku had told him. Jeremiah's hair was greyer, his face more worn, but without a doubt he had not aged as much as he should have. Looking at Jeremiah, and spotting the pale face of Rolo beside him out of the corner of his eye, a possible idea started to form in his mind. But now was not the time, he'd have to make a point to discuss this with Jeremiah privately at a later time. Jeremiah's face snapped into recognition.

"Your Highness?" he asked.

"Not any more," said Lelouch, aware that EE was following this conversation with interest, and Lelouch wondered what had been under discussion before he'd arrived. He sighed, once again questioning his own reasoning when he selected this particular disguise. "You can call me… Miss Lamperouge, I suppose."

Jeremiah nodded, apparently smart enough not to comment on Lelouch's choice of identity for this visit. "I see Zero was successful in tracking you down, I had hoped that was the case when Her Majesty dismissed me this morning. Though I can't say I was expecting to see you like this… you look so much like Marianne."

Lelouch was careful to keep his frown internal at that comment. He was really starting to get annoyed with people comparing him to his mother. He had not been particularly fond of her the last time he seen her. Though he could hardly tell Jeremiah about that. He was a man very much driven by his loyalty, and though currently he was loyal to Lelouch and Nunally, said loyalty sprang from his devotion to their mother and the guilt he felt for not being able to prevent her death. It would be best to keep the fact that she hadn't truly died that day a secret.

"Are you staying in the capital for the celebrations?" Lelouch asked, enforcing a change of subject to something he felt more comfortable with.

"I will be, Nunally requested I stay. I feel she wants another pair of knowing eyes watching out for you during your stay. Of course, that will only last as long as the other nobles can tolerate me. I am not especially popular these days, and I have already been here longer than some of them would have wished. I may use my discretion and take my leave before the celebrations conclude."

"In that case," said Lelouch, smirking as the conditions were cleared, and his spur of the moment additional shopping plans were guaranteed success, "I expect you need a new something nice to wear for tomorrow's ball. And it just so happens I was about to take these two shopping. Would you like to join us?"

What he neglected to mention was that between the three of them they needed two entire wardrobes, and Lelouch himself had a lot he felt he needed to buy. What he really needed, more than Jeremiah's company, was an extra pair of hands to carry the shopping, so that he didn't have to. Especially since Nunally had been generous enough to gift him with a very special piece of plastic which carried almost unlimited funds, supposedly so that nobody would track his purchases, not that he had much money to his 'name' anyway. He could spend as much as he liked, 'within reason'… Nunally hadn't needed to tell him that; all his decisions were thoroughly thought out.

* * *

And so it happened that less than an hour later the four of them were in town, being towed around by Lelouch with various degrees of reluctance. He had made both EE and Rolo get measured for suits, insisting that they should at least look nice, even if they didn't stay at the dance for long. Lelouch did at least appreciate that it would be a daunting experience for Rolo. He had also made the pair of them get proper haircuts, because even though he claimed his own cutting skill to be good enough for everyday, it needed to be smartened up a bit. A considerable amount of more casual attire was also purchased for the pair of them, including better fitting shoes than those hurriedly picked up in Japan.

For himself, he had also increased his collection of female wear, collecting a few more bits and pieces more suitable for wearing round the palace. For the dance, he picked up an elegant emerald green ballgown, with a neckline just about as low as he could tolerate without exposing himself, but that required a couple of other small adjustments to fit him better, that he could manage himself back at the palace later on. He'd also picked up a matching pair of shoes, sensibly choose something that wasn't too pointed or tall… he'd already hurt his feet once wearing women's shoes and he didn't want Suzaku mocking him when he crippled himself trying to keep up his disguise by overdoing it.

All in all, by the time they went to collect the suits, they were all laden down with bags, including Jeremiah, who had gained very little for himself from this shopping spree.

Lelouch made sure Rolo and EE tried on their new suits before they left the store; no point having them if they didn't fit. He had to help Rolo with his, as the boy wasn't used to wearing something so complicated. Lelouch practically oozed with pride at the sight of his 'little brother' dressed so smartly, even if he did look a little terrified. Lelouch was confident that no one, not even those who might have briefly encountered Rolo fifty years before, would recognise him.

After that Lelouch led them to an upscale café for a refreshment break, and no one complained about being able to put their bags down for a bit before the walk back to the palace. As they were sitting drinking tea, someone approached from behind them.

"Jeremiah Gottwald?" queried a voice from behind Lelouch. Lelouch turned his head, looking up into a face he recognized from somewhere.

"Lady Euphemia?" queried Jeremiah after a couple of moments. "Why are you out in the city? I'm sure you're supposed to be in the palace with your mother and the rest of your family."

Lelouch realized where he'd seen her face before; her photo was in the files his sister had sent him. This was Euphemia, 'Mia', Cornelia's eldest daughter, and one of the contenders for the next ruler of Britannia. As Suzaku had said, she resembled neither her mother, nor her namesake, but her father, and, from seeing her, he guessed what Suzaku and the file hadn't mentioned, which was that her father must be Cornelia's former Knight; Gilbert Guilford. How… interesting.

"My mother has never scolded me for escaping my duties, or leaving the place I'm supposed to be staying for a self-motivated excursion, not even when I was a child. She says that Aunt Euphie used to do so occasionally, and you and I both know what my mother is like when it comes to Aunt Euphie. Besides, it's been a long time since my last visit to Pendragon, and it's a nice city. It's always good to see how the other half live, as it were; make sure our policies really are keeping people happy, rather than just listening to our advisors say they are."

"I did try to discourage her," assured the young woman standing behind Lelouch's niece. Lelouch assumed she was some sort of bodyguard from her stance, and the way her eyes moved around the room attentively. "But, you know, once Lady Euphemia makes up her mind to do something, she will carry it through, no matter what anyone says to the contrary."

"I've told you before… call me Mia, especially out here. Since I have to put up with you all the time, I shouldn't have to put up with such formalities all the time too. Anyway, Her Majesty springing this dance on us tomorrow, without notice, means there are a couple of things I need to get…" She paused for a moment, letting her eyes rove over Jeremiah's companions, as if realising the conversation had been rather one sided up until this point. "Mr. Gottwald, who are your friends?"

"Guests of Her Majesty, like yourself. This is Miss Lamperouge, a friend and a relative on Her Majesty's mother's side, and her younger brother, and his tutor." At this point Lelouch was glad he'd had the chance to share their cover story with him.

"Miss Lamperouge?" repeated 'Mia'. "I am afraid I do not know of your family beyond Her Majesty, and her mother."

"It seems that my side of the family fell out of favour and left the country after the Lady Marianne's unfortunate death," supplied Lelouch, backing up his cover. "I very much doubt any record of us continues to exist in this country, aside from the occasional contact from the Empress herself. I was not expecting that any of us would be invited to attend the celebrations, but I am honoured."

"The honour is mine, Miss Lamperouge, to meet a friend of the Empress. I see you have been shopping?"

"Indeed… Lady Euphemia isn't the only one Her Majesty has sprung this occasion upon."

"I knew it was to be a big occasion, but I wouldn't have thought Her Majesty would have arranged a dance because… well… it's not something she can participate in easily. So I arrived here without bringing anything suitable." She paused for a moment, as if in thought, then her eyes gleamed, in a manner the other three sat at the table recognised, even if Lelouch did not. "Miss Lamperouge… you strike me as a woman of taste…"

Lelouch said nothing… he could sense impending doom should he agreed, but there was no way he willingly going to deny having good taste.

EE instead filled the momentary gap in the conversation. "Oh, you can be assured that she has excellent taste; only this morning she outfitted both myself and her younger brother in the best suiting suits we have ever had the privilege to wear, so that we may attend the dance without appearing too shabby. Anything she says to the contrary is mere modesty."

Lelouch mentally cursed his fellow immortal, knowing that somehow, EE was getting revenge for the shopping spree he had forced upon him.

"In that case," continued Mia, eyes sparkling with the joy of a plan with near guaranteed success, "perhaps you could accompany me, and help me pick something out. My bodyguard here… she will be of no use after all, she only agrees with everything. I need help."

Lelouch hesitated, wanting to return to the palace, but also not wanting to offend this woman who had a chance of succeeding the throne. It would be a good opportunity to gain a better understanding of her after all. "Of course my Lady," he agreed, offering a fake smile, "If Jeremiah will escort my brother and his tutor back to the palace, it would be my pleasure to accompany you."

Perhaps this was Karma, punishing him for enforcing shopping on others.

* * *

**AN:** End of another chapter. What do you think of Mia, the first of Nunally's possible heirs to appear on screen? She's difficult to write, because she keeps turning into Euphie in my head, the annoying thing about sharing a name. And can anyone guess what Lulu wants to talk to Jeremiah about?

I will endeavour to start the celebrations next chapter, and to not keep you waiting too long.


	20. Chapter 20

**AN:** It was interesting to see your opinions on Mia last chapter. You seem split… half of the reviews said she was like Euphie, the other half said she wasn't. In my opinion they have a few things in common, but Mia is definitely her own person. And perhaps a few other opinions might change with the beginning of this chapter. A few reviewers made some sort of guess about what Lulu wanted to talk to Jeremiah about… well, you'll find out soon

Apologies for the delay on this chapter… it's not entirely my fault. My computer randomly decided to corrupt the document while I was working on it and I had to retype most of it. I blame my antivirus, it doesn't like me. But you are getting a super-bonus double length chapter for your wait, so it's not all bad. And lots of stuff happens!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Code Geass.

* * *

The next day was the day of the ball that would open Nunally's Golden Jubilee celebrations. Lelouch had been handed an envelope, which supposedly contained details of the planned celebrations, when he'd been brought breakfast; he'd been trying to avoid leaving his room until he'd had to, just in case he ran into Mia again. He set the envelope aside as he ate.

Mia had not been as he had expected and after shopping she'd decided he needed to be accessorised with jewellery, apparently his own efforts in that field were feeble. Up to that point however, Lelouch had rather liked her. Her impromptu shopping trip turned out not to be some childish impulse to increase the breadth of her wardrobe, but instead because she had heard Jeremiah had left the palace and she'd hoped to find him before he left the capital. She'd been rather worried about him, since amongst the nobility she and her mother were two among very few that accepted him.

Her mother had know the man when he had worked protecting Marianne prior to her assassination, and as they both admired her, she had understood, even if she couldn't approve, of his loyalty driving him to take Lelouch's side, and equally now that he was gone, to protecting the younger of Marianne's children.

Mia hadn't wanted Jeremiah to know she was checking up on him on behalf of her mother. Once she'd seen him with Lelouch, and verified that he was staying for at least a few days, she hadn't needed to stay. Instead she'd wanted to know more about Lelouch, the stranger who seemed familiar with Jeremiah. She seemed to want assurance that Lelouch was actually going to be civil to Jeremiah. Lelouch could only hope that he'd lived up to her expectations.

After breakfast he took a closer look at the contents of the envelope. There was quite a lot of variety in the events that were planned for the week ahead, and he looked forward to some of the events more than others. He was certain that he'd get to meet all of Nunally's potential heirs and see some of their strengths and weaknesses, especially if they were participating in everything that was planned. The last night's event… well, now he understood what Nunally had meant when she'd told Suzaku he wouldn't get away with staying in his Zero guise. She'd even added a note to Lelouch's copy of the itinerary, suggesting that Lelouch 'take care' of Suzaku's attire for that particular evening. After all, she could hardly designate the job to someone else without raising suspicion, and, Lelouch agreed with her; Suzaku could hardly be trusted to do the job himself.

Lelouch grinned wickedly, already concocting plans. Of course, he'd have to make arrangements for himself and probably his other companions too. He was quite looking forward to it. But first, he'd have to get through tonight's dance.

* * *

Lelouch, Rolo and EE made their way down to the ballroom later that day, just as afternoon turned to evening. Lelouch had spent the half hour prior fussing over Rolo, which had followed a considerable amount of time fussing over his own attire, and making sure his wig was perfectly arranged, and his make-up flawless.

The ballroom was elegantly decorated and softly lit. The evening's musicians were setting up in the corner, bringing the sound of instruments being tuned and warmed up to join the sound of conversation from the small number of guests already assembled. Lelouch had decided to arrive early for Rolo's sake. It meant that he wasn't faced with a huge crowd of people straight away. Hopefully the number of people in the room would increase slowly enough that he wasn't spooked. It was important to Lelouch that Rolo learn to be around large groups of people, since, as his memory currently stood, he had no experience of it.

Nunally wasn't here yet, and neither was Suzaku. Lelouch's eyes traversed the room, observing who was present as he graciously accepted a drink from a passing waiter, and excused Rolo as 'underage' when the waiter brandished the tray at him. He'd been keeping a reassuring hold on Rolo's hand as they entered the room, and at this point Rolo squeezed his fingers in gratitude. He didn't offer any of the silent communication he'd offered Lelouch the other day, obviously it was a demanding form of communication, and he didn't feel the need to use it in this situation. Nevertheless, he could sense Rolo's nervousness, and was willing to let him leave when he wanted as long as he tried his best.

As he looked around he spotted Mia standing on the other side of the room talking to Jeremiah with a few other people. One was a man about the same age as Mia, who Lelouch assumed was her husband, and there were two boys; her children, and an older couple. As he stared he suddenly realised he was looking at another one of his sisters. Her vivid purple hair had faded to a lavender-grey, but her presence was as imposing as ever. Cornelia had not wilted with age. Beside her, stood Guildford, her former Knight and current husband, carrying the same air of elegance and willingness to defend Cornelia.

Lelouch knew Cornelia and her family were staying somewhere in the palace for the duration of the celebrations. It was easier for them with the two young children, than continually travelling back and forth from another place of residence. They had probably arrived at the party early in the hope that the children would wear themselves out before they could cause embarrassment, and so they could be put to bed before it got too late. From the way they were chasing each other around and among their older relatives they were apparently at an energetic age.

He led his party across the room daringly. He greeted Jeremiah and Mia cordially, and hid his amusement as Mia insisted on introducing him to her mother. Cornelia met his eyes and then looked him up and down searchingly, as if looking for some deficiency to comment on. Apparently satisfied she shook his hand. Lelouch smiled warmly, pleased that his disguise had withstood his half-sister's intense scrutiny. Thankfully she had refrained from observing that he resembled his mother; perhaps she'd just simply deemed him unworthy of comparison with her idol 'Marianne the Flash'.

He shook hands with Guildford too, hoping that, as unlikely as it was, he would not recognise him and that the geass Lelouch had put him on fifty years ago was not still effective. Thankfully, it appeared not, and as Mia excused her father for not having as good eyesight as he used to have, Lelouch felt guiltily relieved. Guildford was not going to see through his disguise either.

As time went on he made polite conversation as did EE. After being introduced Rolo had hung shyly in the background, he had smiled and shaken hands and that was all that was required of him.

The room filled up fairly quickly, with relatives of various distances to Lelouch, few of whom he recognised, as well as other nobles, important guests from other countries, and others. It was quite a crowd. The two most important guests however, weren't here yet and the crowd and the musicians were anxiously waiting for their arrival to begin the evening's celebration properly.

Suddenly a silence swept the room, and the assembled crowd of guests swung their heads as one to face one direction. There was a brief fanfare and Nunally entered the room, followed by Suzaku in a more formal version of his Zero attire.

Nunally was attired in a deep purple gown, the sort of colour reserved for royalty, though its impact was softened by lavender panels in the bust and skirt, which made it far more suited to Nunally's personality, and matched her eyes. She was sitting in a wheelchair, obviously designed for such occasions, throne-like with the seat higher than was usual and embellished with gold.

Lelouch was more impressed with what Suzaku was wearing. This version of the Zero attire had a much changed colour scheme, now black with silver trimmings, much toned down from the gaudy purples and golds. The cape had changed; obviously cut with elegance rather than dramatics in mind. It no longer wrapped entirely around the body, nor swept into dramatic motions with the slightest movement of the arms. It was also shorter; knee length, and the collar was also subdued though it had a little elegant silver décor on the inside. This provided a sharp contrast to the mask, which could have been cut from obsidian. It was a solid black colour, taking the same shape as it always had, only rather than the purple 'visor' at the front, this too was black and was undistinguishable from the rest of the mask. Overall, Lelouch thought, it was fabulous, and he was very pleased with how his original design had been adapted.

Nunally gave a brief speech, welcoming her guests, wishing they would have good evening, and, those who would be attending further events, a good week. Then she signalled the musicians and the ball started properly.

Music filed the room. Mia took her husband's hand and they departed in the direction of the dance floor, her husband casting a glance backwards to ascertain that somebody was watching their children, and Cornelia nodded at him encouragingly. Lelouch had his eyes on Nunally, watching as a crowd formed around her and Suzaku, to wish her congratulations on having ruled so well for so long, or so he assumed.

Lelouch looked around the room again, hoping to spot someone else he intended to speak to. No one jumped out, so he turned to Jeremiah, figuring it was as good a time as any to speak with him.

Wanting privacy, he met Jeremiah's eyes and then took his hand. Understanding his intentions, Jeremiah led him out onto the floor. Lelouch glanced back to make sure EE was keeping an eye on Rolo, then allowed himself to turn his attention fully on Jeremiah. Adopting a formal dancing position, one hand in Jeremiah's the other on his shoulder, he allowed Jeremiah to lead him further across the floor.

"I wanted to talk to you," he said, his feet moving through the steps on the dance, concentrating on allowing himself to be led, determined not to give himself away here.

"I thought you might," replied Jeremiah.

"You know why Nunally invited me here?" Jeremiah nodded. "That's not what this is about."

"I know," interrupted Jeremiah. "I know Rolo, and I know enough about Geass to know that something isn't right." He indicated his left eye. "You wanted me to help him." Lelouch nodded. "I don't know if I can… my Geass canceller is just that, it only works on Geass. I don't think it would do anything against whatever sort of Code it is that is preserving him, and even if I could…"

"I know. The code is keeping him somewhere between life and death, and, at present, removing the code would tip the scales in the less favourable direction. I want him to live, to be properly alive, to give him back the life he sacrificed for me and allow him to enjoy it fully. Even if I could remove the code, I wouldn't do it, not yet anyway. His body is still too damaged; the code hasn't repaired it properly. So, ignoring the code, for now, the least I can do is give him a greater semblance of life."

"You want to give him back his voice?"

"That too, if possible. But much more than that I want to restore his digestive system. The ability to eat… it's one of those basics that define life. He may not need it, but I think he'd be a lot happier, and find it easier to pass in society if he was able to do so."

"And you think I can help with this?"

"You can't, but I'm sure you know someone who can."

Jeremiah's eyes widened in sudden understanding. Lelouch paused, about to continue, but suddenly there was a hand on his shoulder. He turned about, meeting the eyes of EE who looked a little unnerved and was holding tightly onto Rolo's hand.

"I'm taking Rolo up to his room, and staying out of here myself," said EE, leaning forward so he could speak closer to Lelouch's ear.

"Why?"

"I recognised somebody." Lelouch paled, alarmed, and EE carried on. "It was somebody who'd visited the facility recently. She didn't spot us, at least I hope not, but if she does she's likely to recognise us, and I think it's most certainly not worth risking. I don't know who she is though."

"It's ok, go. Keep yourself and Rolo safe." Lelouch turned to the man he'd been dancing with. "Jeremiah, can you please go with them? Keep them safe?"

Jeremiah accepted and led the others from the floor in the direction of the doors. Lelouch watched them, and the surrounding crowds, until they were out of sight, and then he tried to relax. He was not pleased with this discovery, it meant that he'd have to keep EE and Rolo out of sight for the rest of the week, and that there was someone in the crowd tonight who apparently knew at least a little about Geass, and approved of Code bearers being locked up and experimented upon. And Lelouch was certain that it wasn't someone who'd been associated with Geass and Codes before. Cornelia had no further interest in Geass after Lelouch had 'died', and Schniezel was being watched by Suzaku, who wouldn't let him do such a thing. He'd have to think about that issue later, for now he had to concentrate on what he was here for.

He sighed, and made his own way from the dance floor, aiming for the food and surreptitiously scoping the room. It turned out there was no need to go hunting for nieces and nephews, as one of them found him.

"My lady," greeted a voice from behind him.

Lelouch turned and looked up to meet a strikingly familiar face. But it wasn't someone he knew. The eyes, and the shape of the face, he certainly knew them, but there was an unfamiliar warmth in the expression, and the hair was seemingly the wrong colour.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Lelouch queried, though he was fairly sure he'd worked it out. This was one of the people he'd been looking out for.

The man bowed, "Roderich el Britannia, at your service, for the present moment at least. My wife has gone to track down my daughter, who I fear has gone to make a nuisance of herself before my father. Thus, I found myself temporarily unattached, and noticed your partner abandon you. I thought I could volunteer my hand for a dance, Lady…?"

"Lamperouge," replied Lelouch. "Lucinda Lamperouge. And it would be a pleasure."

Roderich was Schniezel's son, and it was Schniezel's features he saw looking back at him. He had darker brown hair, presumably from his mother, and his expression carried that surprising warmth. Warmth in Schniezel's expressions was rarely genuine. He thought back to Roderich's file, and what Suzaku had said. Apparently Roderich did not take after his father.

"I'm afraid my younger brother was feeling unwell," said Lelouch, attempting to explain his 'abandonment', whilst allowing Roderich to lead him back onto the floor. "I asked my friend, who I'd been dancing with, to escort him back to his room."

"It is an honour to meet a member of Her Majesty's mother's family; I have heard many great things about her. Of course, someone as lovely as yourself should not have to leave such a fine party to take care of an ailing sibling."

Lelouch blushed, fairly certain that he'd just given Roderich a bad first impression of himself. "He'll be ok," he said, "he's a bit nervous around crowds, especially where he doesn't know many people. But Her Majesty herself requested I stay for as long as I could."

"Ah well, if Her Majesty decreed it, then I am powerless to disagree," stated Roderich solemnly. He then smiled and spun Lelouch in a gentle circle, giving him a brief chance to look around the room. He spotted Suzaku and Nunally through a gap in the crowd. "I see my father is taking his chance to greet Her Majesty," said Roderich, noticing where Lelouch was looking. "I'd send him on his way, but really, he's harmless. I find the stories Kanon used to tell hard to believe. He'd never go against the Empress. I'm sure Zero will send him on his way soon enough."

Lelouch smiled. He wondered about 'the stories Kanon used to tell', and how close to the truth they were. Schniezel must have changed if his former advisor was fancifying his former exploits. Roderich smiled back and lead Lelouch further onto the floor.

They danced for a while, Lelouch encouraging Roderich to talk about whatever struck him fancy, and the man gushed about his wife and daughter, talked about his father and Kanon, and how much they were all looking forward to the rest of the week's events. Lelouch talked back, making up a couple of stories about his little brother, their tutor and their home. The man was giving Lelouch the impression of someone with average intelligence, though with an above average vocabulary, who was far more concerned with the everyday exploits of his daughter than affairs of state. He seemed like a really nice, likeable person, if a bit dull, but Lelouch couldn't quite believe this was all there was to him. Surely the son of his biggest intellectual and tactical rival was not such a simple creature. Try as he might though, Lelouch couldn't lure him into a conversational trap to reveal it.

"Oh, look who it is," remarked Roderich after a while. He turned so Lelouch could see. "Hello father."

Schniezel had aged well, with silver-grey hair and a quiet, intelligent fierceness in his eyes. He was smiling at his son, and merely looked at Lelouch with a neutral expression, but Lelouch still had to fight the urge to back away. It was an automatic response he supposed, but he controlled himself, greeting his brother politely as if he were a stranger. Schniezel bowed and kissed his hand, then pulled him away from Roderich.

"You should be dancing with your lovely wife, lest someone else steal her away." Schniezel said to his son. "I'll keep this young lady company for the next dance, and then I'm sure someone else would love to take her off my hands."

"Did she track down our daughter then?" asked Roderich, presumably referring to his wife.

"Yes, Kanon's watching her for the time being, so your wife is available for dancing with."

Roderich smiled and left, and as Schniezel took over the dance Lelouch cursed his luck. Schniezel was a good dancer, of course he was; he was good at most things. In comparison Lelouch was dreadful, mostly because he was panicking inside, and was desperately trying to avoid making eye contact with his brother.

If any one person here was going to recognise him, it would probably be Schniezel. The man was more observant, and knew more about Geass than anyone else here. Lelouch tried desperately to relax. He very much doubted Schniezel would say anything even if he did recognise Lelouch, preferring to plot until he could confirm it, and then catch him unguarded. And Suzaku would surely set him straight before then.

The dance ended and Schniezel led Lelouch from the floor. He bade Lelouch a good evening and left. Lelouch watched from the buffet as he joined another man and a young girl; presumably Kanon and his granddaughter. Schniezel picked up the small blonde girl, who looked perhaps eight or nine, and spun her around. The he set her down, smiled and knelt down to speak to her. Lelouch was shocked. Schniezel el Britannia; doting grandfather, who'd have guessed? Lelouch smiled despite himself. Perhaps Schniezel was not as bad he remembered.

Lelouch helped himself to some food and made polite conversation with the assorted nobility collected in groups around the room. He danced with several more young men, sincerely hoping that Suzaku hadn't noticed. He ran into a couple of other siblings, though less intimidating than the two he'd come across earlier.

Odysseus was one of them. He was standing with his wife when Lelouch approached him to talk. Their marriage had been childless but happy, Lelouch had discovered. His oldest brother had always been a bit dim, especially in comparison with himself and Schniezel, and had never protested being used as a political tool. He had simply accepted at the time, that his father had wanted him to marry the Tianzi and bring about an alliance with China. Lelouch was glad he'd disrupted that, and he suspected Odysseus was too.

Odysseus had a kind and honest word to say about most people, and had introduced Lelouch to a few more of his relatives. None of them particularly captured his interests, and he was able to cross a few names off of his mental shortlist. Eventually the man suggested he go and congratulate Nunally, now that the crowd around her had diminished. Lelouch decided he would take advantage of the opportunity, thanked Odysseus and made his way to the head of the room.

"Good evening Your Majesty," said Lelouch, executing a deep curtsey and bowing his head, aware of the two sets of eyes on him, the two that actually knew who he was and didn't really require a curtsey. However, he was also aware of the rest of the room, and the people whose eyes were occasionally flicking past, some resting for a moment before moving on. He could not drop his act just because he was only speaking to Nunally and Suzaku, because people would notice. He held himself at a respectful distance, concentrating on his body language, so as not to seem overly familiar.

"Good evening," said Nunally, refraining from tacking on his fake name. "I trust you are enjoying yourself this evening?"

"Oh yes, I've met a lot of Your Majesty's family."

"And?"

"They are an intriguing and varied bunch to say the least."

"I hope none of them have been a bother?"

"Oh no. they have all been very civil and welcoming. I expect they have too much respect for you, Your Majesty, to be on less than their best behaviour around your guests." Of course, Lelouch knew that if he'd arrived at this party without his disguise the reaction to his presence would have been quite different, respect for Nunally's guests or not.

"Even Schniezel?" put in the obsidian masked voice of Suzaku.

Lelouch stared into the mask for a few seconds, suddenly deeply suspicious of Suzaku having made some form of suggestion to Schniezel, and being the reason behind their encounter. Had Suzaku been that interested in how he would react to him? "Especially Schniezel," he replied, "he was much different to how I had imagined."

"I noticed," commented Suzaku, "I saw you dancing." Lelouch could just picture the smirk that was surely lurking behind the mask on his friend's face. Suzaku had _definitely_ had something to do with that turn of events.

"Speaking of dancing," interrupted Nunally, "I was hoping Zero here would be able to join in, since he has had quite a few ballroom lessons and has proven himself competent in a few previous events hosted here. Sadly, tonight he is without a partner, and I had so been looking forward to watching him dance. I do enjoy watching these dances though I am sadly unable to participate." Nunally looked at him hopefully. "Perhaps you would consent to dance with him?"

Suzaku… dancing. Now that was something he hadn't expected. Lelouch knew that Suzaku had always excelled at all physical activities, but he'd always believed that ballroom dancing wasn't among them. He'd made an attempt at teaching him how to dance one afternoon when they'd been children, at Nunally's request, but Lelouch had quickly given up hope, saying that Suzaku had too many left feet and too much of a gormless expression to be able to dance properly. Or perhaps it had just been that he'd wanted to cling on to the one physical activity he could actually best Suzaku at.

Maybe Suzaku's dancing ability was better now. Lelouch was, admittedly, curious and wasn't going to miss seeing this. He'd dance with Suzaku if it made Nunally happy. However, perhaps a token protest was in order.

"I'd love too, but Your Majesty, I wouldn't want to leave you vulnerable without your guardian."

"Oh, you can borrow him for a little while," said Nunally, eyes twinkling. "My Knights of Rounds are still here, strategically placed. I'm perfectly safe."

Smiling, Lelouch turned to Suzaku, whose expression was currently unfathomable behind his mask. Lelouch hoped that his friend felt at least a little uncomfortable, as revenge for making it so he had no choice but to dance with Schniezel earlier. Lelouch proffered a hand. "Lord Zero?"

Suzaku accepted the hand and bowed low over it. "It would be a pleasure, my lady."

Lelouch watched Nunally smile as Suzaku led him onto the floor. They reached a clear spot, still clearly visible by Nunally, and turned to face each other. They adopted a stance as the music faded, and Suzaku tentatively raised a hand to his mask. He must have pressed the concealed switch, because all of a sudden a small section of mask slid away, and Lelouch was staring into Suzaku's brilliantly green left eye. No one other than Lelouch would be able to see; that was how he'd designed the mask after all, only the person who was intended to be geassed could see Zero's eye, and once geassed, they'd forget what it looked like. Suzaku was grinning inanely; Lelouch could tell, just from that one exposed eye. Lelouch rolled his own eyes and straightened, becoming more serious as the music restarted in a fairly fast paced waltz beat.

Suzaku's own expression became more serious as his gaze flickered round for a moment analytically before resting more Lelouch once again. Then he stepped into the dance, and Lelouch, reading his expression and body language, followed seamlessly.

As they spun across the floor, Lelouch had to admit he was impressed. Suzaku had certainly learned to dance, and learned well. He was apparently effortlessly graceful, all clean sharp lines and perfect posture. Lelouch was struggling to keep up; this dance was a little more energetic than his dancing earlier, and he was out of practice. He couldn't even complain about Suzaku pulling faces. Not that he could really tell what faces Suzaku was pulling behind the mask, but the one eye he could see stared straight at him, maintaining eye contact for the most part, full of the seriousness and emotion associated with the dance. It was strangely intense, intimate even, and Lelouch could feel himself beginning to blush, even though he knew it was just part of the dance.

Finally, the fast paced dance ended, and a breathless Lelouch was finally able to take his eyes off those of his dance partner. Suzaku supported him, holding him close and Lelouch caught his breath, and together they moved into the next dance, thankfully this one much slower and less physically demanding.

"You're a lot better at dancing than I remember," said Lelouch when he'd finally recovered enough to speak.

"Of course… my instructor had a lot more patience than you. Most people have more patience than you did when you were trying to teach me to dance."

Lelouch bit back his curiosity about Suzaku's dance instructor, preferring instead to complain. "Perhaps if you'd have paid more attention I'd have been able to be more patient. I seem to recall you were too busy laughing because I was being 'the girl'." Thankfully they were speaking quietly enough that no one would overhear.

"But Lulu… you _are_ the girl," said Suzaku and Lelouch could hear the laughter in his voice. Lelouch sighed in mock despair and 'accidentally' stepped on his friend's foot. Suzaku didn't react… probably because his Zero boots had concealed steel toecaps, part of Lelouch's original design, and Lelouch wasn't particularly heavy. Frowning, he decided a subject change was in order.

"Who's that talking to Nunally? She looks familiar, but I can't place her."

Suzaku turned to look towards Nunally. "That's one of the organisers of this week's events. And of course you'd recognise her; it's Milly Ashford. You didn't think Nunally would possibly leave her out of plotting an event of this scale; Milly would never forgive her."

Lelouch looked again. It was Milly, though undoubtedly she was a lot older than when he'd last seen her. She seemed to be looking at Suzaku and Lelouch with unguarded interest.

"I expect she wants to know all about the mysterious woman dancing with Zero, and has thus gone to ask Nunally for details," added Suzaku.

"I think I'd best avoid going over there then."

"Why? Because it'd take you forever to escape her clutches?"

Lelouch shivered at the thought of being in Milly's clutches. "Well, there's that, and the fact that it'd be a lot safer for me to avoid her in case she recognises me. After all, she _is_ one of a very small number of people who've seen me in a dress before."

At the end of the dance the pair parted ways. The evening was drawing to a close and Lelouch was unable to meet any more of his relatives before the ball ending and he returned to his room.

* * *

**AN:** And… end of super long chapter. I decided to stop there before another new scene presented itself and demanded being added, because that happened too many times already, hence the length. Suzaku and Lulu dancing…. I hoped you liked it, it was originally planned for a later chapter, but my recent addiction to Strictly Come Dancing made me imagine Suzaku dancing a Viennese Waltz. He'd be brilliant at it, it suits his natural spinniness.

Oh yes, now you've met contestant number two; Roderich, what do you make of him? Right… I have to go and figure out which of my Jubilee events needs to go next. There probably won't be another update before the New Year, so Happy Christmas readers!


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